The dramatic breakdown within the Australian Greens sparked by the revelation of long-running allegations of misconduct against Jordon Steele-John has spilled into a second week, with new leader David Shoebridge and the WA Senator unable to agree even on whether Mr Steele-John has taken leave from his position.
Claims about the party’s disability spokesman’s “behaviour in the presence of women” were forced into public view through the publication of a letter to Greens’ leadership last week, prompting Senator Steele-John to post an extraordinary 2400-word statement to social media to deny the claims at the weekend.
Senator Steele-John slammed the timing of the letter as factionally-motivated. He said it was designed to align with party preselection and accused his Senator Shoebridge, who has been leader for just a fortnight, of trying to pressure him to step aside despite no specific allegations being detailed.
Senator Shoebridge had said on Thursday he had accepted a leave request from Senator Steele-John who would not return until an independent investigation undertaken by his WA branch was concluded.
However, Senator Steele-John has publicly claimed he was “repeatedly pressured” to take leave during party crisis meetings.
“I feel that he used those meetings to repeatedly pressure me to say that I would take leave. I was stunned by this,” Senator Steele-John wrote.
“I told him I would likely need some time at some point to look after myself, my team and my family, but I asked him, more than once, not to announce that I had requested leave, because I knew it would be read as validating a story where there isn’t one.
“It was a bad call from David.
“So, to be clear, I am not on leave and did not agree to the inclusion of that line within David’s statement.
“The Leader of the Australian Greens doesn’t have the power to place a Greens MP on leave from Parliament, the party or the formal Party Room.
“I will continue to do my job in a way that supports my staff team, my family and my community.”
However, a spokesman for Senator Shoebridge on Monday claimed the leader believed the pair had reached an agreement.
“It was the understanding of Senator Shoebridge that leave was agreed,” the spokesman told The Nightly.
“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.”
The allegations came to light after Nine newspapers published a story on Thursday about leadership receiving the letter which was then followed by a sequel alleged that the party had a secret 47-page crisis communications manual on Google Docs cataloguing the allegations and listing ways to shut down any media coverage.
Senator Shoebridge has denied knowledge of both the letter and the 2016-created Google Doc, with his office insisting “this is not a document made by, used by, or seen by the Leader’s Office”.
He has since referred to the WA branch of the party for independent investigation.
Senator Steele-John’s post attracted more than 3000 reactions, 3500 shares and almost 800 comments across Facebook and Instagram.
In the post and later comment section, he denied the claims and offered graphic detail about the serious sexual misconduct allegations which he says stems from a former partner.
In his lengthy statement posted online, Senator Steele-John had also accused his ex-girlfriend of domestic violence, coercive control, and blackmail after she refused to accept his “polyamorous” lifestyle.
Senator Steele-John claimed he had been the victim of abuse after his ex-girlfriend — who he claimed to be dating on non-exclusive basis at the time — found out he had begun a new relationship with his current partner.
“My new relationship, which is polyamorous, was not the reason for the breakup,” he penned in the detailed explanation to constituents.
“After days of sustained pressure, I told her about my partner.
“Over the next 55 hours, she attempted to call me 56 times and sent over 700 messages containing violent, abusive and pornographic text, audio and imagery.”
He claimed she began sending invoices for a $12,000 “care fee”, “tolerance levy” and “silent treatment admin fee”, as well as bills of a new tattoo, hairstyle and holiday.
Senator Steele-John claimed the serious complaint emerged after he refused to pay the invoice — which came with threats to “destroy my reputation unless I paid”.
He confirmed a formal report of sexual assault had been made against him by his ex to the WA Police, alleging that he had removed condoms without her knowledge during sex, an act known as stealthing.
Senator Steele-John denied the accusation and said no charges had been made after he volunteered to be interviewed by the police for hours.
“The report made to the police was of sexual assault — that I had, on multiple occasions, removed condoms without her knowledge while she was on top, facing me,” he said.
“I volunteered to be interviewed and spent hours answering every question — including detailing which sex positions are possible for me as a Disabled man.
“She continues to be under investigation by the WA Police Family and Domestic Violence team.”
Senator Steele-John also used the post to openly accuse a “clique” within the Greens of orchestrating a preselection smear campaign.
The letter arrived the day after a preselection timeline was agreed and the week of Senator Steele-John’s 32nd birthday.
“It is no coincidence. It is my opinion that this is an attempt to influence forthcoming party preselections by deliberately leaking out of context or misleading information to smear potential candidates and myself,” Senator Steele-John claimed.
“When processes meant to protect victims are turned into weapons in preselection contests, everyone loses.”
The 47-page dossier which emerged last week included claims that taxpayer-funded Greens staff were tasked with monitoring the social media discussions and taking screenshots of comments posted by party members about the Senator’s conduct. It included Senator Steele-John’s chief of staff.
A spokesman for Senator Shoebridge on Monday reiterated the Senator Shoebridge’s pledge for a “fair, timely and independent process”.
“This process must include procedural fairness for all involved, with the key findings made public,” he said.
WA Greens on Monday said they were still finalising the process and would publicly confirm when an investigator was officially appointed.
Members also declined to comment further on Senator Steele-John’s lengthy post while they “await the findings of the investigation”.
It comes after four WA Greens’ State MPs — Brad Pettitt, Sophie McNeill, Jess Beckerling and Tim Clifford — on Friday demanded a public airing of the findings of a misconduct investigation.
“We appreciate the swift and decisive response taken by Australian Greens leader David Shoebridge as well as the Greens WA’s commitment to ensuring this investigation starts as soon as possible,” they said in a joint statement.
“Any complaints of this nature must be dealt with fairly, independently, and thoroughly as the community rightly expects.”
Several members of the party have refused to comment further on the matter during the probe, insisting they want to “protect the integrity of the investigation”.
Senator Steele-John also said in the statement he wanted any allegations investigated “fairly and thoroughly” as they were “extremely serious” but also noted they had been “made without specifics”.
Labor Special Minister of State Don Farrell — who is responsible for electoral matters — on Monday offered to mediate the stoush and could speak confidentially to anyone about allegations.
Senator Farrell told ABC on Monday that while no one had approached him, he was available to assist the minor party which was a “special responsibility” in his portfolio.
“If somebody comes to me, I’m happy to deal with the issue on a confidential basis, as I do every day of the week. I then refer them to the relevant bodies, and I’d be happy to do so in these circumstances. Nobody has asked me to do that,” Senator Farrell said.
“That’s the job of the Special Minister of State. But if people have issues, my door is always open. I’m always happy to listen to try and resolve these issues.”
If you or someone you know needs help, contact 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), or Sexual Assault Counselling Australia on 1800 211 028, the WA Sexual Assault Resource Centre on 6458 1828 or 1800 199 888 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.
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