Greens leader Shoebridge and Senator Steele-John clash over whether leave was agreed

David Shoebridge, the new leader of the Australian Greens, has said it was his understanding that Western Australian senator Jordon Steele-John agreed to take leave from parliament while allegations of misconduct against him are investigated. Shoebridge considers that step appropriate. On Sunday night, however, Steele-John said he was not on leave and had never agreed to stay away from parliament.

The senator's statement

Steele-John published a statement of about 2,400 words on Sunday night. In it he claims Shoebridge pressured him to request leave after complaints about his conduct became public last week. He also accuses an internal faction of the party of playing “nasty political games”. He denies all allegations of misconduct.

The senator said he felt Shoebridge used their meetings to repeatedly press him to say he would take leave. He called it “a bad call” by the leader and stressed that he had not agreed to the inclusion of that line in Shoebridge's statement.

The party's response

Shoebridge called an emergency federal party meeting on Monday morning. He has not held a press conference or spoken publicly; after the meeting a short statement was issued in the name of a spokesman. It said the matter must be resolved through a fair, timely and independent process commissioned by the WA Greens, with procedural fairness for everyone involved and the key findings made public. It added that leave does not prejudge the inquiry.

The wording differs from Shoebridge's first statement last Thursday, which said Steele-John had requested leave from the party room and that he had accepted it.

Background

Nine newspapers reported last week that seven party members had demanded an investigation into allegations that the senator acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.