New South Wales politician Gareth Ward has denied being drunk when he went to state parliament at 4am on a Sunday morning in July, insisting he was simply collecting a spare key after locking himself out of his apartment in his underwear.
The Kiama MP said he made the eight-minute trip to parliament on foot from his Potts Point apartment on the “freezing” morning because he’d been locked out without his phone.
The Daily Telegraph on Wednesday reported that a parliamentary security report on the matter said Ward had arrived at parliament early on 21 July wearing a “T-shirt, underwear and socks”.
A parliamentary source confirmed the report’s existence but Guardian Australia has not seen it. It is understood Ward was wearing boxer shorts at the time.
Ward on Thursday denied being drunk and said he had only gone to parliament to retrieve his spare key.
“Having been awoken and responding to a noise at the rear of my apartment, I locked myself out of my property in the early hours of 21 July,” Ward said in a statement.
“Given it was freezing at around 4am in July, with no prospect of getting a locksmith, not having my phone and with my property around eight minutes’ walk/jog to parliament, I went to parliament to get my spare key.”
Ward said he had not seen anyone other than the security guard who granted access to the building.
“The imputation that I was drunk is wrong,” the MP said on Thursday.
“The imputations in these questions are defamatory. This is this sort of gutter journalism that sees faith in some journalists fall to an all-time low. I will be making no further comment.”
Ward was a minister in the Berejiklian government before he left the Liberal party and moved to the crossbench after being charged with sexual assault offences.
He was suspended from the parliament before the most recent state election but after being reelected in March 2023 he returned to Macquarie Street.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges and has previously said he looked forward to proving his innocence in court.
On Thursday afternoon, the government passed a motion in the lower house to refer the matter to the parliamentary privileges and ethics committee.
The committee was asked to determine if Ward’s conduct “gives rise to any issues concerning the appropriate conduct of a member” and if any action should be taken as a result.
The premier, Chris Minns, said Ward’s alleged behaviour was “a major concern” and was “far from appropriate in the workplace”.
“Parliament has to make a decision about what the next steps are,” he said.
“There’s literally thousands of people who work in the chamber. Many people have access after hours as well and standards need to be upheld.”
