All but one of Shellharbour’s current councillors have voted to refer Kiama MP Gareth Ward to ICAC, after he called on the NSW Roads minister to forcefully buy out a piece of council land required to build the Albion Park Rail bypass.
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Independent Peter Moran raised the motion as urgent business at the end of this week’s meeting.
He said he believed Mr Ward had scored “an own goal” by “interfering” in the acquisition of property at the same time as highlighting that he was not allowed to do so.
Only councillor Helen Stewart, who named herself a close personal friend of Mr Ward, voted against the push to refer him to ICAC.
On Wednesday, Mr Ward responded to the council’s condemnation, saying he would “immediate step aside from the position” of parliamentary secretary if ICAC found he had a case to answer.
“However, if the ICAC finds that there is no case to answer, I will be calling on Marianne Saliba to withdraw as a candidate from the September 9 local government election,” he said.
At the council meeting, Peter Moran said he would not have normally considered referring “the normal rough and tumble of local politics” to ICAC, but said he thought Mr Ward had clearly highlighted “an own goal” in his letters,
“[In a letter to Mayor Marianne Saliba, Mr Ward] speaks of the need of members of parliament to separate themselves from property transactions,” Mr Moran said.
“Now, in the letter Mr Ward sent to [Roads minister Melinda Pavey] Mr Ward actually seeks to involve himself in a property transaction, in that he calls for the state government of NSW to compulsorily acquire some land of Shellharbour council’s.”
“I wouldn’t have normally thought of that being an ICAC-able offence, except that Mr Ward had specifically raised the need for members of parliament to separate themselves from these transactions. In that respect, I suppose this is a bit of an own goal.”
Mr Moran also highlighted that the Liberal Party had had two elected Shellharbour councillors (Paul Rankin and Kellie Marsh) defect from the party to become independents during this term.
“To lose one councillor is unfortunate, to lose two looks like carelessness, and that’s what Gareth has managed to do,” Mr Moran said.
“The puppet master of Liberal politics has unfortunately for him, lost both the councillors and that probably drives some of his desire to wreak whatever havoc he can on this council.
“However, this council is not seeking to obstruct the government’s plans to construct a Albion Park Rail bypass, this council is not seeking to have the state government pay for the Albion Park or Tripoli Way bypass.
“All we are trying to do is ensure that this council represents the interest of the community and doesn’t allow ourselves to be ripped off by the state government.”
Ex-Liberal councillor Rankin said he found it “highly offensive” that Mr Ward had mentioned the jailed state politician Eddie Obeid in his letter about the council’s purported delays.
“We have been upfront and honest about this the whole time,” Cr Rankin said.
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that what we supply for our residents [in the area around the bypass] is done at the same time.”
He also said Mr Ward’s team of prospective Liberal councillors would not be able to “bring this to the table any faster than we are doing now”.
Mayor Marianne Saliba noted Mr Ward had referred himself to ICAC before the council vote. She also said no councillors had been involved in negotiations over the bypass land, which was ongoing between council staff and RMS officers.
“The RMS website is very clear that this project is on track, [it] does not identify that there are any delays on this project,” she told the council.
“Gareth Ward has said that we have delayed the project, he’s posted on Facebook that I personally am holding up the project and that the community should vote me out on September 9.
“Now I have been in politics for a very long time, and I have never ever come across a more dirty campaign that this in my life.”
“It’s deplorable for him to take such action in order to promote a candidate for an election.”
Cr Stewart said she would not join other councillors in referring Mr Ward to ICAC, noting she “had a friendship with Mr Ward”.
“This is just purely political, it’s just grandstanding, and I don’t condone a lot of things that’s in [Mr Ward’s] letter but I am not going to support a motion for this to be reported to ICAC,” she said.
“Probably Gareth might need to take a step back, with the emotion and the election coming… possibly there could be a retraction or an apology.
“But I’m not going to support taking someone to ICAC and being investigated over some wording that’s been put in a letter.”
Kate McIlwain
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
For more than a decade, I've helped the Illawarra Mercury set the news agenda across the region. Currently I'm the paper's health reporter - covering the stories of Illawarra workers and residents in the wake of a global pandemic and at a time where our health systems are stretched to the limit.
