Gareth Ward

Gareth James Ward, an Australian politician, is the New South Wales Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services in the second Berejiklian ministry since April 2019. Ward is also a member of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly representing Kiama for the Liberal Party since 2011.

Ward has previously served as the Parliamentary Secretary for Education, in addition to his role as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast from 2017 until 2019. Previously, Ward was a councillor on Shoalhaven City Council from 2004 until 2012.

Ward was born with albinism and is legally blind.

Ward was born in the Illawarra region and completed his schooling at Bomaderry High School. He holds degrees in commerce and arts from the University of Wollongong and Bachelor of Laws from the University of New England. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Australian National University and is an Admitted Solicitor in the Supreme Court of NSW and the High Court of Australia. From 2001 to 2006, Ward served on the Council of the Wollongong Undergraduate Students' Association at the University. Ward was involved with the Australian Liberal Students Federation.

On 27 March 2004, Ward was elected to the Shoalhaven City Council as an independent councillor representing the northern parts of Shoalhaven. He was re-elected on 13 September 2008 and was appointed deputy mayor in the same month.

On 12 April 2010, Ward was preselected as the Liberal candidate for Kiama. It was reported that he gained preselection in a 20–12 vote against the previous candidate, Ann Sudmalis. At the 2011 state election, Ward was elected with a swing of 19.4 points and won the seat with 57.5 per cent of the vote on a two-party basis. Ward's main opponent was the incumbent sitting Labor member and former Minister, Matt Brown.

In April 2015, Ward was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast after Premier Mike Baird abolished the former position of Minister for the Illawarra. In March 2017, Ward was appointedto serve as the Parliamentary Secretary for Education. Ward retained his existing responsibilities as the Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra and South Coast.

Following the 2019 state election Ward was appointed as the Minister for Families, Communities and Disability Services in the Second Berejiklian ministry.

In September 2017, Ward claimed to have been the target of an attempted mugging in New York City while staying at the Intercontinental Hotel. Ward claimed to have booked a male masseur for a massage, which was reported as a "special massage" (in conflicting reports, it is claimed he "called a phone number provided by an acquaintance"but others reported he ordered "the massage online from an outside service"). When two men turned up and announced that both of them were minors, Ward told them to leave. He then claimed the duo became aggressive and demanded US$1000 before they would leave. While luring the men down to the lobby under the guise of retrieving money from an ATM, Ward alerted hotel staff and the men fled. CCTV images were circulated but no arrests have been made.

Ward denied that it was a "special massage" but has also repeatedly refused to name the website he ordered the massage from.

In September 2018, Ward was described in Federal Parliament by his fellow Liberal colleague Ann Sudmalis as leading a campaign of "bullying, betrayal and backstabbing" against her while she was a representative. These allegations were expanded to include branch stacking of local Liberal branches, and instalment of persons hostile to Sudmails on her electoral committee. She described his determination as to "annihilate anyone who opposed him" with his motivation being "Gareth's narcissistic revenge". Sudmalis went on to accuse him of misogynistic behaviour and raised several examples of where he had actively opposed and campaigned against female Liberals on the South Coast.

In February 2019, four men were suspended from the NSW Young Liberals for 6 months after it was revealed that they made a series of offensive and derogatory slurs against women using the dating app Tinder while campaigning for the 2018 South Australian state election. One of those members was revealed to be Jacob Sich, a staffer to Gareth Ward. Ward faced heavy criticism for his initial refusal to sack Jacob Sich, and allegedly only took action to sack Jacob when contacted directly by the Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Months after the suspension, Mr Sich was found to have been volunteering in Ward's electorate office. When questioned, Ward initially denied knowledge of Jacob Sich being present in the office but subsequently admitted so by claiming “Mr Sich has done a handful of days volunteering and hasn't been paid a cent”. Jacob Sich was re-elected Secretary for a second-term to the University of Wollongong Liberal Club, which was founded by Ward when he was a student at the university.