Event: Jordon Steele-John

Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week as the embattled Greens senator apologises for publicly releasing the letter outlining the claims against him.On Saturday afternoon, Steele-John removed a social media post containing a three-page letter marked as “confidential” sent to Greens leader, David Shoebridge, earlier this month. The letter urged an investigation into allegations he had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.Jordon Steele-John has denied all allegations made against him.The Western Australian senator said he’d heard the full letter had been circulating online and “didn’t 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 on social media.After days of confusion following historical complaints about alleged misconduct were publicly aired in the media, the now-deleted statement posted to social media late Friday night said he considered attending Senate estimates virtually but was told it would be “unacceptable”.He would instead focus on seeing through an independent investigation to its conclusion, he said.“Over the past few days there has been a growing chorus calling on me not to attend parliament next week. I have explored attending digitally but have been informed that would also be unacceptable,” Steele-John said.Steele-John said a precedent of keeping parliamentarians out of parliament after “allegations of allegations” are made had now been set.“Had an allegation or complaint been made against me, I would have taken these actions immediately,” he said.The 32-year-old senator’s attendance in parliament for the remainder of the year had been uncertain after a public stoush with Shoebridge, over whether he was on leave during the investigation.The complaints are now subject to an independent investigation commissioned by the WA Greens and have been referred to the Independent…

More than a week after allegations that Greens senator Jordon Steele-John had behaved inappropriately towards women made headlines, his position in the party remains in limbo and its new leader’s handling of the issue in question.David Shoebridge’s first major challenge at the helm of the federal Greens came earlier this month when the Nine newspapers reported a three-page letter had been sent to him urging an independent investigation into Steele-John.It referred to secondhand allegations that the Western Australian senator had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025.As a progressive party that prides itself on taking such matters seriously and fairly, it made sense that Shoebridge announced the 32-year-old’s leave amid an independent probe into the claims.But the process quickly became more complicated. Days later, a defiant Steele-John rejected the allegations against him, denied he agreed to take leave from parliament, and accused an internal faction within the WA Greens of playing “nasty political games” in its decision to release the letter to the media. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s Politics, really newsletter here Steele-John said he made a public statement because he didn’t want his silence on the letter’s claims to be perceived as guilt.While Shoebridge insists Steele-John agreed to take leave, he acknowledges he alone does not have the power to force the senator to do so.Only if two-thirds of the party room – or more than seven members – decided to expel him in a secret ballot would Steele-John have to comply.Such a move would be nuclear. Even if the WA Greens’ independent investigation clears him of any wrongdoing, Steele-John’s standing in the party room would be shattered.The week ahead under scrutinySenate estimates is a time for members of the upper house to have their moment in the spotlight. For the Greens, it’s a chance to extricate…