Chris Minns refuses to make deal with Gareth Ward

Chris Minns, leader of the NSW Labor Party, has promised he will not make a deal with former Liberal Minister Gareth Ward if there is a hanging parliament.

Ward confirmed on Friday he would contest his Kiama seat as an independent after being suspended by Parliament and forced to crossbench on historic sexual assault charges, which he strenuously denies.

Speaking of Nine 2 GB with Ben Fordham, Minns answered questions from listeners ahead of the NSW state election and said his party will “go further” and not favor Ward.

“Under no circumstances would we make a deal with Gareth Ward in the NSW Parliament, even in the event of a hanging Parliament,” Minns said.

“I think that’s completely unreasonable. I’m going on Ben, we’re not going to favor him in the upcoming election. ”

Loading

Minns urged NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet to follow through on the promise. “How can you be in a situation where six months ago you’re saying this guy can’t enter the NSW Parliament, six months later you’re about to have an election, it’s tough competition, ‘oh we’re going to give him ours Offering preference to get over the line is rude,” he said.

Minns also said he would not rule out buying back the Eraring power plant in the Hunter region, which is scheduled to close in 2025.

“At the moment there is no prospect of us ruling that out as we may need this power station to power the east coast of Australia and NSW in particular. It accounts for 25 percent, so if you take that out of the market, you have a deficit,” he said.