Former New South Wales Liberal minister turned independent MP Gareth Ward will not be resuspended from parliament while he fights sexual assault charges, after a government committee found such a move would present major risks.
The parliamentary privileges committee handed down its report on Wednesday evening, after being tasked with assessing options open to the government when dealing with a member suspended from the house and then re-elected.
The committee was not looking at Ward’s case explicitly, but a hypothetical that closely matched it.
The committee found suspending a member could “potentially have serious and negative consequences on the house, a member’s constituents, victims of any alleged crimes and the presumption of innocence of a member”.
Ward was last year suspended from the parliament after being charged by police, in a move that blocked him from attending the premises on Macquarie St and voting on legislation.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this year and has previously said he looked forward to proving his innocence in court.
Since being re-elected in the March state election, he has returned to parliament.
Senior government sources on Wednesday night confirmed to Guardian Australia the advice meant Ward would remain in parliament and would not face another suspension motion, unless there was a new development.
A NSW government spokesperson noted the committee’s view on the potential consequences to legal processes that a suspension could cause.
“The government would not do anything which would jeopardise these proceedings running their course,” the spokesperson said.
“The premier has previously made clear that he makes no judgement about the guilt or innocence of the member.”
The committee found that resuspending a member who had been re-elected by voters who had “full public knowledge of pending criminal charges” would be a “repeated denial of the electorate being represented in the assembly by their chosen member”.
“Where no further charges have been brought against the member since their re-election … the case for a further suspension may be regarded as weakened,” the committee said.
It also found there were risks of legal action against the parliament by a suspended member, risks to the constituents by not being represented in parliament for a prolonged period of time, and risks to the criminal court processes that could be delayed.
The committee concluded that the parliament should seriously consider the possible consequences and risks involved in suspending a member and, in future cases where suspension is considered, refer the matter to the privileges committee for consideration before action was taken.
The premier, Chris Minns, has refused to answer questions from Ward in parliament since he returned to the house, saying it would be inappropriate to do so until the privileges committee had considered the matter.
“It’s up to the privileges inquiry [as to] what the recommendation will be for his continued service in the legislative assembly,” Minns said in May.
Ward has been contacted for comment in relation to the report.
Police have alleged Ward indecently assaulted a 17-year-old on the NSW south coast in February 2013 and that he raped a man in Sydney in September 2015.
He has been charged with five criminal offences, including sexual intercourse without consent; three counts of assault with indecency; and common assault, which is an alternative charge to one of the indecency offences.
