Greens leader David Shoebridge has said it was his understanding Jordon Steele-John agreed to take leave from parliament while misconduct allegations against him are investigated, and that it’s “appropriate” that he does so, despite the Western Australian senator saying overnight that he was not on leave and had never agreed to stay away from parliament.
Steele-John released a lengthy, explosive statement on Sunday night claiming Shoebridge pressured him to take leave after complaints about his conduct were made public last week, and accused an internal faction within the Greens of playing “nasty political games”. He has denied any allegations of misconduct.
Shoebridge called an emergency federal party meeting on Monday morning following the ۲۴۰۰-word statement.
The new Greens leader has not called a press conference or spoken publicly about about the latest salvo from Steele-John since Sunday night, but instead released a short statement attributed to a spokesman following the meeting on Monday.
The statement said Shoebridge “firmly believes this matter must be resolved with a fair, timely and independent process as is being commissioned by the WA Greens, and he has worked to ensure this occurs.”
“This process must include procedural fairness for all involved, with the key findings made public.”
“Senator Shoebridge remains of the opinion that leave is appropriate under the circumstances and reiterates that this in no way prejudges any of the matters being referred to an inquiry commissioned by the WA Greens. It was the understanding of Senator Shoebridge that leave was agreed.”
That language differs from the first statement issued by Shoebridge, on the matter last Thursday, which said: “in the circumstances Senator Steele-John has requested leave from the party room and I have accepted it.”
Nine newspapers reported last week that seven party members had demanded an investigation into allegations Steel-John had acted inappropriately towards women between ۲۰۱۷ and ۲۰۲۵.
Steele-John, in his Sunday night statement, said he was not on leave, contrary to Shoebridge’s comments last week, and claimed he had been pressured by the leader to request leave on Thursday as Nine’s story was breaking.
“I feel that he used those meetings to repeatedly pressure me to say that I would take leave,” Steele-John said on Sunday.
The senator said “survivors of family violence are entitled to make decisions about their own lives and the Greens have always said so”.
“It was a bad call from David. We’ve all made those in politics. So, to be clear, I am not on leave and did not agree to the inclusion of that line within David’s statement.”
More to come.
