War of words as Kiama election campaign continues after vote

Former Liberal turned independent Gareth Ward who is fighting for his political life in the seat of Kiama he has held since 2011 hit out at his opponents - on the left and right - for what he described as an "disgusting" smear campaign.

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Counting is still underway in Kiama, with Labor's Katelin McInerney ahead by 622 votes, but Mr Ward said he was confident that the gap would narrow.

"I beat both major parties, my primary vote is well ahead of Labor's and about four times that of the Liberal party," he said.

"As an independent running in Kiama, I've won the primary vote, I won a majority of the booths, it's going to come down to preferences and postal votes. The people of Kiama have spoken, we just need to work out what they said."

The campaign has been hard fought, with Ms McInerney announcing her run back in August of 2022, but Mr Ward said the contest had been marred by poor behaviour.

"The Liberal Party were running an active campaign against me, and this is all tied up with an underhanded smear campaign that was embraced by my opponents."

Mr Ward is facing criminal charges of sexual and indecent assault against two people, accusations he strenuously denies and will fight in court.

During the campaign, Ms McInerney has not mentioned Mr Ward's charges, however has campaigned on Mr Ward's suspension from parliament which was a result of the charges prohibiting him from representing the region in Macquarie Street.

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"I am really proud of the positive campaign we have run to give Kiama a fresh start," Ms McInerney said.

"Over the last six months I have spoken with thousands of locals who have raised really important issues about the dire state of our hospitals, our schools and our roads - and that's what this campaign has been about."

While Mr Ward accused both his Liberal and Labor rivals of underhanded tactics, he saved his harshest criticism for the unions.

"The unions decided to smear me personally, and that obviously helped their campaign and there were also flyers distributed that were incredibly offensive," he said.

South Coast Labour Council secretary Arthur Rorris, who called for Mr Ward to withdraw his candidacy pending the outcome of the criminal proceedings, said there was no smear campaign.

"It is still incomprehensible to many people that someone on bail for such serious charges would even think of putting themselves forward," he said. "I am quite shocked and very disappointed.

"Stating the facts does not constitute a smear campaign."

A result in Kiama could take days to be announced, with only 40 per cent of the votes counted and numerous pre-poll and postal votes yet to be added to the tally.