A former media advisor to Senator Jordon Steele-John and a former state co-convenor have gone public as two of the seven Greens members who wrote to party leader David Shoebridge demanding an independent investigation into the WA senator’s alleged inappropriate comments to women, and called for the findings to be made public.
On Friday this masthead revealed the Greens created and maintained a secret dossier for 10 years that catalogued allegations against Steele-John and set out ways to shut down media coverage and monitor members who raised concerns on social media.
Shoebridge denied any knowledge of concerns about Steele-John before receiving the letter last Thursday, but former Greens media adviser Tim Oliver, who worked for the WA senator from October 2017 to July 2021, confirmed the existence of the crisis communications dossier and its use.
“I was briefed on the document when I worked for Steele-John, but I had no involvement in its creation or say in the actions attributed to me. What I have learned in the years since is that whenever allegations such as these are made, it is most important that we believe women,” he said.
Oliver is one of the letter’s seven authors. “The public’s mistrust of politics is driven by a perception that MPs protect their own; I have always advocated for these processes to be public and transparent,” he said.
Former WA co-convener Sarah Nielsen-Harvey, another of the letter writers, has joined Oliver and the four Greens in WA’s state parliament in calling for the results of the independent inquiry ordered by Shoebridge to be made public.
Steele-John took leave last Thursday after Shoebridge received the letter from seven Greens members and officials, including Oliver and Nielsen-Harvey, regarding “multiple allegations” about “his [Steele-John’s] behaviour in the presence of women” between 2017 and 2025.
“We have been made aware of multiple allegations ... being made against WA federal senator Jordon Steele-John spanning almost a decade (2017-2025). 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,” the letter claims.
Steele-John strongly denies claims against him, describing them as non-specific. On Sunday night, he broke his silence in a 2400-word statement posted on social media.
In it he accused factions within the Greens of weaponising rumours about him for political reasons, and said he was not on leave as leader David Shoebridge had claimed.
“I genuinely welcome the opportunity to participate in the Greens WA investigation process,” he said.
On Sunday night, Steele-John published an open letter on Instagram addressing allegations in the letter, which he says he shared with Greens WA and “asked them to ensure that the concerns raised in it about my behaviour are investigated fairly and thoroughly. I will, of course, participate in any investigation that follows a specific allegation” but alleges that the motive for pushing for an inquiry now is to influence forthcoming party preselections.
The senator says he does not know who signed the letter calling for an inquiry, “and I suspect many did so out of a genuine commitment to people who experience violence. I share that commitment. That is exactly why I am so angry that it has been used this way.
“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.“
Nielsen-Harvey resigned as co-convenor in 2017 after the WA Greens decided to re-employ Steele-John as volunteers’ co-ordinator, before he was a senator, in the lead-up to the 2017 WA state election. On Sunday, she told this masthead that while serving in the former role “I became aware of allegations as to behaviour I considered unacceptable”.
“I raised my concerns internally. It was (and to my understanding, remains) the wish of the two people [two young women who had made a complaint about Steele-John] concerned to not pursue this further. I and others were prepared to publicly stand with them, but most importantly, we respected their desire to not pursue anything further and I resigned from my position,” she said.
“I am also aware of a more recent allegation [against Steele-John], and I will not make further comment as an independent investigation is vital.
“Since 2018 I have supported survivors of historical child sexual abuse, against the power of religious, state run and other institutions ... coming forward to make allegations against powerful figures in institutions takes immense courage. Every organisation must have an investigation procedure, have an action plan and take every allegation seriously.
“I remain a member [of the Greens] and in 2025 I stood as a candidate in the WA state election because it is my deeply held belief that the Greens’ policies on education and health, action on climate change, are an opportunity to help people and our planet. We can believe in something, and we can call for better.”
A spokesperson for federal Greens leader Shoebridge said: “This inquiry needs to be fair, independent, and timely - and in the interests of independence, we won’t direct those conducting the inquiry as to how it should operate.
“As Greens leader, Senator Shoebridge supports the key findings of the investigation being made public.”
It can also be revealed that former WA state Greens leader Elizabeth “Giz” Watson, who is currently the co-convener of the WA branch, will play no role in the independent investigation into Steele-John after Greens party members raised concerns about her involvement. Watson was the party’s state leader when complaints first surfaced, and the dossier includes an email to her from Nielsen-Harvey.