"I'm Not on Leave": Steele-John and the Fracture Within

There is a particular loneliness that settles over a politician who feels abandoned by their own party—not by the opposing benches, whose criticism is expected, but by the people who share their banner and their cause. In a six-page statement posted to social media on a Sunday night, Greens senator Jordon Steele-John did not sound like a man retreating. He sounded like a man who believed the ground beneath him had been pulled away by hands he had trusted.

The Western Australian senator is at the center of a political storm that began last week when nine newspapers reported that seven current and former Greens members had written to new party leader David Shoebridge, requesting an investigation into concerns about Steele-John's behavior toward women between 2017 and 2025 . Shoebridge announced that Steele-John would take a leave of absence from the party room while an independent investigation was established. That announcement, Steele-John now says, was a "bad call"—one made without his agreement and one that he believes validated allegations he denies .

"I am not on leave and did not agree to the inclusion of that line within David's statement," Steele-John wrote . He said Shoebridge had "repeatedly pressured" him during meetings before the story broke to say he would take leave, and that he had asked the leader more than once not to announce it. "I knew it would be read as validating a story where there isn't one," he said . He described the leader's decision with a phrase that carried more sorrow than anger: "It was a bad call from David. We've all made those in politics" .

The senator's statement did not stop at the question of leave. He addressed the substance of the complaints as he understood them, beginning with the nickname "Feels on Wheels," which he said originated from his early years in parliament when he became emotional during speeches about the disability royal commission . The phrase, he said, was later twisted into something "more sinister"—an implication that he had treated women inappropriately . He also addressed a 2024 Greens campaign event allegation, noting that no details were provided in the letter and that he could not respond to what he had not seen . And he spoke of a 2025 complaint of serious sexual misconduct, which he said stemmed from a relationship with a former partner and which police had investigated without filing charges .

The most pointed part of his statement was not defensive but diagnostic. Steele-John claimed that an "unofficial faction" within the WA Greens had weaponized the complaints to influence forthcoming preselections, noting that the letter arrived at the leader's office the day after preselection timelines were agreed upon . "This is not accountability. It is factionalism, and it has no place in the Greens," he wrote . He suggested that the timing was "no coincidence" and that the leak was an attempt to "smear potential candidates and myself" .

The political context adds layers that no single statement can resolve. Shoebridge is in his first week as leader, facing his first serious test, and Steele-John acknowledged as much: "I very much understand the tremendous scrutiny David was under" . The WA Greens have said they are "putting together an independent process to assess the allegations" and will not comment further to protect its integrity . The matter has also been referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission . Steele-John has said he will participate in the investigation and maintain his duties in parliament.

What remains unresolved is the human question beneath the procedural one. Steele-John described himself as a survivor of family violence whose experience "collided with nasty political games" . He said he had hoped to share his account when he was ready but felt compelled to speak because "the silence of self-protection will be perceived as the silence of guilt" . Whether that account is received as candor or deflection will depend on what the investigation finds and on the judgment of those who read his words.

For now, the Greens face a test that is not merely about one senator or one leader. It is about whether a party that speaks often of accountability and care can apply those principles to its own internal conflicts without turning them into weapons. Steele-John has said he will continue to do his job. Shoebridge has said the process must be fair and independent. The distance between those two statements is where the truth will be found.

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Sources: ABC News, The Guardian, Brisbane Times, The West Australian, Daily Mail