Under fire Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has deepened the rift with his party, publishing a confidential letter which references “allegations of allegations” against him.
The senator has also confirmed he will take leave next week and skip budget estimates hearings.
“The precedent has now been set: any MP can be kept out of parliament by allegations of allegations,” Senator Steele-John posted online on Friday night.
A “growing chorus” had been calling for him not to attend parliament, and the senator said he was informed he could not attend by video call, he said.
“As such I have decided not to return next week and will instead focus on the independent and timely investigation I hope is soon commenced by the Greens WA.
“Had an allegation or complaint been made against me, I would have taken these actions immediately.”
Senator Steele-John has said a woman he briefly dated had falsely claimed he removed condoms during sex.
The WA senator has totally rejected the allegation, saying the partner was coercive and abusive, and that a court had issued a temporary family violence restraining order to protect him.
The confidential letter Senator Steele-John posted on Friday night is from seven unidentified current and former Greens staff and party officials, written to the new federal Greens leader David Shoebridge earlier this month.
The authors say they are looking to protect the party’s reputation, and maintain appropriate party standards and policies. They also want; “Protection of party members - in particular female members”, and hold “the belief that our complaint is reasonable given the circumstances set out”.
The letter says the group has been made aware of “multiple allegations of serious misconduct” against the Senator from 2017 to 2025.
“These allegations all concern his behaviour in the presence of women. We are aware of multiple women who have taken up roles or volunteered in the party, who because of these allegations, have been warned not to be alone with him.
“Notably, these warnings have come from inside and outside the party, demonstrating that knowledge of his alleged reputation extends beyond party membership and out into the community,” the letter reads.
The letter, which Senator Steele-John released to the public, airs an allegation “of sexual harassment in 2024 at a Greens Party campaign event (NOTE: this has not been reported for fear of backlash and not being believed),” the letter authors say.
“To be clear, all signatories to this letter know that an allegation does not equate to a fact and/or guilt. We simply believe that it is in the Party’s best interests to ensure that every allegation is investigated thoroughly, in alignment with community and member expectations.”
The authors call for the Greens to commission independent investigations into every allegation as soon as possible, and state and federal Greens organisations to review and update gendered violence policies “so that the threshold for acting on allegations as a Party is not reliant on police charges”.
“It should be noted that for every person brave enough to sign this letter, there are multiple others who were too fearful of backlash by Senator Steele-John and others in the party to sign on,” they conclude.
In a lengthy statement earlier in the week, Senator Steele-John said he was “really concerned” to learn of the 2024 Greens party campaign event allegation, but did not know how to respond given there were no details shared.
“What I can do is make sure there’s a safe way for anyone to raise concerns, and that’s why I’ve asked Greens WA to look into this,” he said.
Breaking his silence on Monday after Greens leader Senator Shoebridge said Senator Steele-John was “on leave”, the WA senator said police investigated the condom allegation and decided not to lay charges.
He alleged the former partner sent him more than 700 messages in three days, made threats, and kept abusing him after he ended the relationship.
Senator Steele-John has blamed a cohort within the WA Greens for trying to stop him being preselected, ever since his surprising election a decade ago.
“They pressured me to resign the Senate seat immediately and make way for their preferred candidate … Over the years, they recruited more members into what rapidly became an unofficial faction within the state party,” he said on Monday.
“When processes meant to protect victims are turned into weapons in preselection contests, everyone loses. Survivors become less likely to be believed. Real complaints are treated with suspicion. And the people who did this know it. That is not accountability. It is factionalism, and it has no place in the Greens.”