Greens senator Jordon Steele-John to stay away from parliament as misconduct allegations are investigated

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week, as he apologised for publicly releasing a confidential letter that set out allegations against him. He has denied all of the claims.

On Saturday afternoon, the Western Australian senator removed a social media post that contained the three-page letter, which had been sent to Greens leader David Shoebridge earlier this month. The letter called for an investigation into allegations that he behaved inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025. Steele-John said he had heard the full letter was circulating online and did not want to be seen as hiding from it. "I'm now not sure that was the right call and I've taken it down. I am really sorry for any additional stress it caused," he said.

In a statement posted late Friday night and since deleted, the 32-year-old said he had considered joining Senate estimates virtually but was told that would also be "unacceptable". He said he would concentrate on seeing an independent investigation through to its conclusion. He pointed to a "growing chorus" calling on him to stay away from parliament, and argued a precedent had been set for keeping parliamentarians out after "allegations of allegations". "Had an allegation or complaint been made against me, I would have taken these actions immediately," he said.

His attendance for the rest of the year had been in doubt following a public dispute with Shoebridge over whether he was on leave during the investigation. Shoebridge said Steele-John had asked for leave and that he accepted it last week, after seven party members wrote to him urging an investigation. Steele-John has denied agreeing to take leave.

The complaints are now the subject of an independent investigation commissioned by the WA Greens and have been referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.

The letter, dated 13 October and first published by the Nine newspapers, said its authors had been "made aware of multiple allegations of serious misconduct" about his "behaviour in the presence of women". It described an allegation of sexual harassment at a Greens campaign event in 2024, which the alleged victim had not reported for fear of backlash. No further detail was given.

Another allegation referred to "serious sexual misconduct" in 2025. Steele-John later said this was raised by a former partner and had been investigated by Western Australian police, with a finding of "no charges". Guardian Australia has confirmed that police told him the investigation was closed in May with no charges laid.

The letter also cited a disparaging nickname for the senator, "feels on wheels", which the authors said suggested a reputation for inappropriate behaviour. They stressed that "an allegation does not equate to a fact and/or guilt", and said they believed it was in the party's interests for every allegation to be investigated thoroughly.

In a lengthy statement last Sunday, Steele-John rejected the allegations and accused an "unofficial faction" within the WA branch of leaking the letter to the media in an attempt to remove him from the Senate, describing it as playing "nasty political games". He said any claims about his behaviour should be investigated "fairly and thoroughly".