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Seven current and former Greens members sent a letter to party leader Senator David Shoebridge last week that referenced multiple allegations about Senator Jordon Steele-John’s behaviour in the presence of women from 2017 to 2025, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. The letter noted that some women had been warned not to be alone with him, though none of the signatories claimed direct knowledge of the matters, Shoebridge told the ABC. The leader referred the issue to the WA Greens for an independent probe after the Parliamentary Workplace Support Service said it could not investigate due to the circumstances and nature of the claims.
Steele-John released a more than 2,000-word statement on social media on Sunday in which he rejected the allegations outright and said he was not on leave from the party room despite Shoebridge’s announcement to the contrary. “It was a bad call from David,” Steele-John wrote, adding that he had asked the leader multiple times not to frame the situation as him taking leave. The senator described the letter as containing no specific allegations, only references to rumours, and said he had asked the WA Greens to investigate the concerns fairly.
One complaint involved a brief relationship in 2025 during which Steele-John said he experienced domestic violence from his then-partner, according to the account he provided to SBS News. He stated that after he ended the relationship the woman sent more than 700 messages and made 56 calls in 55 hours, some containing threats, and later made a complaint alleging he had removed condoms without consent on multiple occasions. Steele-John said he participated in a police interview and was informed the investigation had closed with no charges laid.
The matter has revived attention on a 47-page dossier that the WA Greens drafted in 2016 and maintained for years, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. The document outlined how to respond to media inquiries about earlier allegations against Steele-John, including instructions for staff to monitor social media discussions by party members. Steele-John said the dossier was prepared to shield two women from media pressure over what he described as unsubstantiated rumours rather than to conceal misconduct, a characterisation the party has echoed in statements to ABC News.
Steele-John linked the current letter to internal factionalism and forthcoming preselections, claiming it represented “nasty political games” that weaponised his personal history of family violence. He explained that a phrase originally used to mock his cerebral palsy and emotional advocacy, “feels on wheels,” had over time been reinterpreted by some as implying inappropriate conduct toward women. The senator, who uses a wheelchair, said he viewed his passionate approach to issues as a professional strength but continued to face ableism in parliament.
Two signatories to the letter, a former media adviser to Steele-John and a former WA Greens co-convenor, have gone public to demand that the investigation’s findings be published and that the probe also examine the party’s past handling of the issue, according to a follow-up report in The Sydney Morning Herald. WA Greens MPs separately urged the national party to release key outcomes publicly. Shoebridge’s office confirmed the matter was additionally referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.
The WA Greens previously responded to similar claims in 2016 by stating that the allegations were not substantiated and that no formal complaints had been lodged by the named individuals, a position reiterated in recent party communications reported by ABC News. Steele-John has committed to cooperating with the independent inquiry commissioned by the WA branch. The senator said he hoped to have addressed the rumours on his own timeline but felt compelled to respond after the public announcements.
