Australian Greens senator Jordon Steele-John confirms he will miss parliament next week

Australian Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week. An independent investigation commissioned by the WA Greens is examining complaints about his conduct.

On Saturday, Steele-John removed a social media post containing a three-page confidential letter sent earlier this month to Greens leader David Shoebridge. He said he had heard the full letter was circulating online and did not want to appear to be hiding it. He apologised for any additional stress caused by publishing it.

The complaints have also been referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. Steele-John denies all allegations.

Claims described in the letter

The letter, dated 13 October and first published by Nine newspapers, was signed by seven party members. It referred to multiple allegations of serious misconduct involving women between 2017 and 2025 and called for an investigation. Its authors stressed that an allegation does not establish fact or guilt.

The document cited an allegation of sexual harassment at a Greens campaign event in 2024. The alleged victim had not reported it, the letter said, because of concern about backlash. It also referred to an allegation of serious sexual misconduct in 2025. Steele-John later said a former partner had made that allegation and that Western Australian police investigated it without laying charges. Guardian Australia reported that police told the senator in May that the investigation had closed with no charges.

Leave and party dispute

Shoebridge said Steele-John had requested leave, which he accepted last week after seven party members urged an investigation. Steele-John denied agreeing to take leave and accused an internal group in the party of trying to remove him from the Senate. His attendance for the rest of the year had been uncertain.

In a social media statement posted late Friday, Steele-John said he had considered joining Senate estimates remotely but had been told that would be unacceptable. He said he would focus on seeing the independent investigation through. On Saturday, he also said he was no longer sure that posting the letter had been the right decision.