The Illawarra state MP accused of bullying, betrayal and backstabbing has hit back at suggestion he is to blame for forcing Member for Gilmore Ann Sudmalis out of the Parliament.
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Gareth Ward, the Liberal Member for Kiama and the region’s parliamentary secretary, has slammed Ms Sudmalis – a fellow Liberal – for her “outrageous use of parliamentary privilege”.
Ms Sudmalis used her legal immunity in the House of Representatives on Monday night to label Mr Ward a “self-determined senior Liberal” whose hallmarks in recent years were “bullying, betrayal and backstabbing”.
Read more: Premier backs Ward amid bullying claims
“This is not the first time that Gareth has flexed his vengeance on strong Liberal women. He doesn’t just get even; he annihilates anyone who opposes him,” she said.
Ms Sudmalis – who holds the South Coast-based seat by the slimmest of margins, 0.7 per cent – also took aim at Liberal Shoalhaven councillor Andrew Guile and South Coast Register editor John Hanscombe.
“Between them I have been misrepresented in all manner of media and a continuing barrage of actions from April 2012,” she said. Mr Guile, who ran second to Ms Sudmalis in the Liberal preselection for Gilmore in 2012, said she had no evidence for her claims.
“It's basically just name-calling to slander a few people, myself included, just because we've had political contests in the past," he said. “There's no issue in our area about the men versus women thing – as much as Ann likes to play that up.”
Ms Sudmalis said her decision not to contest the next election was due to Mr Ward’s “narcissistic revenge”.
The Kiama MP said political disagreements should not be confused with bullying.
“We have differences of opinion on a number of things and you shouldn’t conflate bullying with internal party discussions and ballots,” Mr Ward said. “Just because you mightn’t get your way, it doesn’t mean that that’s bullying.”
Mr Ward denied campaigning against Ms Sudmalis, saying he distributed how-to-vote cards for her at “every election she’s contested” and wrote a statement of endorsement for her last preselection.
Mr Ward, who has albinism and is legally blind, said he grew up being teased about his appearance. “I know what it’s like to be bullied. I might be lots of things, but I’m not a bully,” he said.
Former Liberal member and past Wollongong councillor Bede Crasnich, who is no longer aligned to any political organisation, defended Mr Ward. “I don’t believe them,” Mr Crasnich said of Ms Sudmalis’ comments. “He [Ward] is not a bully.”
Mr Crasnich said Mr Ward was “attacked” during a Kiama preselection in 2010, which saw the then Shoalhaven councillor beat Ms Sudmalis. “The way that they [Sudmalis and Liberal Jo Gash] refused to campaign for him and … always constantly tried to make life harder for him, I find it a complete and utter joke for her to come out and say this now,” Mr Crasnich said.
“Just because of her own lack of people skills she’s losing support and she needs somebody to blame because it’s an easier thing to do than take responsibility.”
As news of Ms Sudmalis’ decision to quit spread on Monday, Whitlam MP Stephen Jones expressed his sympathy. “Over the last couple of years, she seems to have spent more time having to fight factional battles within her own branches than she's been able to spend fighting for the people of her electorate,” Mr Jones said.
Cunningham MP Sharon Bird said Ms Sudmalis’ concerns were “extraordinary”. “This is another Liberal woman talking about what is obviously a sickness at the heart of the Liberal Party and it needs to be seriously addressed,” she said. – with AAP