Senator Jordon Steele-John confirmed he would not attend parliament next week, publishing a statement on social media late on Friday evening. Steele-John, the senator for Western Australia, stated that he had considered attending the Senate estimates virtually, but was told this would be "unacceptable". Instead, he said, he would focus on bringing an independent inquiry to a conclusion.
Steele-John claimed a precedent had been set for keeping parliamentarians out of parliament following "allegations of allegations". He added that if a charge or complaint had been filed against him, he would have taken those steps immediately. Steele-John is 32 years old.
His presence in parliament until the end of the year had been uncertain following a public dispute with party leader David Shoebridge over whether he was on leave while an investigation into claims that he behaved inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025 was conducted. The complaints are the subject of an independent inquiry commissioned by the Western Australian Greens and referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.
Shoebridge claimed that Steele-John had requested leave and that it was accepted last week after seven party members signed a letter to the leader calling for an investigation into the claims. The three-page letter was sent on 13 October and was first published by Nine newspapers. The letter stated that the authors were "aware of multiple allegations of serious misconduct" against Steele-John regarding his "behaviour in the presence of women".
The letter referred to an allegation of sexual harassment at a 2024 Greens campaign event, which the alleged victim did not report due to fear of retaliation, but provided no further details. In another section, the authors referred to an allegation of "serious sexual misconduct" in 2025. The letter also contained a reference to a derogatory nickname for Steele-John – "feels on wheels" – which the authors said implied his reputation for inappropriate behaviour.
The authors of the letter wrote: "To be clear, all signatories of this letter know that an allegation is not the same as a fact and/or guilt. We simply believe it is in the best interest of the party to ensure that every allegation is thoroughly investigated, in line with community and member expectations."
Steele-John rejected the allegations against him in a long statement last Sunday and denied agreeing to take leave from parliament. He accused an internal faction within the Greens of playing "dirty political games" in their decision to publish the letter in the media. He said that all claims about his alleged behaviour should be investigated "fairly and thoroughly", and accused the "unofficial faction" within the Western Australian branch of publishing the letter with the complaint in the media in an attempt to remove him from the Senate.
Guardian Australia confirmed that the Western Australia Police told Steele-John that the investigation was closed in May without charges being laid.
