Steele-John to skip 4 Senate days during final misconduct inquiry phase

Jordon Steele-John said on Saturday he will not be present in parliament next week, ending days of uncertainty about whether the 32-year-old Western Australian senator would show up for Senate sittings. He said he would focus on seeing an independent investigation through to its conclusion and had considered attending Senate estimates virtually but was told that format would also be "unacceptable".

Steele-John also apologized for posting a confidential three-page letter to social media on Saturday afternoon, then removing it after learning the full document was circulating online. "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.

The letter, dated 13 October and addressed to Greens leader David Shoebridge, calls for an investigation into allegations that Steele-John behaved inappropriately toward women between 2017 and 2025. It describes an allegation of sexual harassment at a party campaign event in 2024, which the complainant did not report at the time, and a 2025 allegation of "serious sexual misconduct". Steele-John said the latter was raised by a former partner and investigated by Western Australian police, which closed the case in May with no charges laid.

Seven party members wrote to Shoebridge earlier this month urging an investigation, and he accepted leave requested by Steele-John last week. Steele-John has denied agreeing to take leave. In a statement posted late Friday night and since deleted, he pointed to a "growing chorus" calling on him to stay away from parliament and argued precedent had been set for excluding lawmakers over "allegations of allegations".

Steele-John has denied all claims against him. In a lengthy statement last Sunday, he accused an "unofficial faction" within the WA branch of leaking the letter to Nine newspapers in an effort to remove him from the Senate, calling it "nasty political games." The letter's authors wrote that "an allegation does not equate to a fact and/or guilt" and said they believed it served the party's interests for every allegation to be investigated thoroughly.

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