Premier Minns' treatment of Gareth Ward petty and undemocratic

Since parliament started last week, Premier Chris Minns has taken a petty, foolish and undemocratic approach to Kiama MP Gareth Ward.

Last week, Mr Ward asked a few questions of Premier Minns in parliament only to be told "yeah, nah. Not talking to you".

The Premier has sent Mr Ward's case to the privileges committee and he doesn't want to prejudice that process, so he's decided neither he nor any other minister will answer a question directly from the Kiama MP.

Read more: Blue Haven sale puts Kiama council budget in the black

Now, you know how you avoid showing prejudice? You treat them the same way you treat everyone else.

What Premier Minns is doing is actually practising prejudice. He's pre-judging his own committee, choosing to deal with Mr Ward differently, rather than treating him like any other MP.

During the election, Labor backed calls to re-introduce a parliamentary ban on Mr Ward and pledged not to negotiate with him.

They backed away from the first option, but this childish approach of Premier Minns makes NSW Parliament look like a scene from the movie Mean Girls.

It smacks of a man who couldn't get over his failure to ban Mr Ward one way, so he's going to try to blacklist him anyway.

Could Premier Minns still be unhappy that Labor didn't win in Kiama?

Also, keep in mind Mr Ward - due to his albinism and being legally blind - has been excluded and bullied his whole life.

One wonders whether Premier Minns' office had thought about whether it's a good idea to make their boss seem like yet another bully.

The whole "question on notice" approach is just stupid. Premier Minns could have just answered Mr Ward - which he will ultimately do anyway - and then moved on. No-one would have said a thing.

Now, instead of whatever else the Labor government is doing, the focus is on the way the Premier is carrying on.

And it was the Premier himself who did it. Normally, politicians want to avoid controversy, but Premier Minns has gone out of his way to create it - and shot himself in the foot.

Really, the only person who comes out of this looking bad is the Premier.

Worst of all is what Premier Minns' approach does for democracy.

Like it or not, Mr Ward was elected by the voters in Kiama. He has just as much right to be in parliament as Premier Minns.

The Premier's actions are depriving the people of Kiama from having a voice in parliament. Other MPs can get their questions answered on the floor of parliament, but Kiama?

Well, they have to wait a few weeks. The Premier will get around to it when he feels like it.

Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.