On Thursday afternoon both sides of the house voted to suspend Mr Ward after he had been charged with the alleged sexual abuse against a teenage boy and a man earlier this week.

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Mr Ward has said he was "completely innocent of the charges" and would fight them in court.

In a statement following his suspension, Mr Ward said he was "extremely disappointed with that decision" and noted it meant he was unable to speak and vote in parliament.

"I will, however, continue to represent and lobby for my local community as its democratically elected member of Parliament," Mr Ward said.

Speaking earlier on Thursday, Mr Rorris said a suspension would avoid a by-election and see the Kiama area without a voice in parliament until the next election, due to be held on March 25 next year.

"It is our role on behalf of our members to demand that our voices are not smothered for a year," Mr Rorris said.

"We're making it clear to the government that is not going to happen. One way or another the voices of working people in this region will be heard.

"If the government doesn't do it the right way, that is through a by-election, which you would expect, then they can expect that the representatives in the region of workers and businesses and other interested groups will fill that role.

"Not only is that appropriate, that is our duty."

Mr Rorris said the labour council was ready and willing to take issues of members in Kiama to Macquarie Street, adding that local Labor MPs had also agreed to convey concerns to parliament.

While Kiama is a safe Liberal seat, much of that is due to Mr Ward's personal popularity in the electorate.

With the state government already in minority, an expulsion or resignation of Mr Ward would have opened the way for a byelection - which the Liberals may not have won.

Mr Rorris said he was concerned the government was acting more in its own interests than those of Kiama.

"The way government has been handling this issue leads us to believe that they're more concerned about losing a seat or the outcome of a by-election or problems for themselves," he said.

"We don't think that's the right way to deal with this and we think that punishes the people of Kiama. It makes the people the victims and that should never happen."

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