Senate Estimates: Greens Disability Spokesperson Will Skip Hearings

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John will not attend Senate estimates questioning on the NDIS this week, and his party has not resolved whether he should step aside. Steele-John has rejected allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women between 2017 and 2025 and said he never agreed to take leave.

The dispute began earlier this month, when Nine newspapers reported that a three-page letter had been sent to federal Greens leader David Shoebridge. The letter asked for an independent investigation into secondhand allegations about Steele-John's conduct. Shoebridge announced that the 32-year-old senator would take leave while the claims were examined. Steele-John then said he had not agreed to that arrangement and accused an internal faction of the WA Greens of releasing the letter to the media to play "nasty political games".

Shoebridge has said he cannot compel Steele-John to step down on his own. Removing him would require a secret ballot in which more than seven members of the party room, two-thirds of the total, voted for expulsion. Steele-John has said he explored taking part in estimates hearings remotely but "been informed that would also be unacceptable". He said he would instead focus on "the independent and timely investigation I hope is soon commenced by the Greens WA".

Steele-John is the party's disability spokesperson. The NDIS is scheduled to undergo changes between now and the end of the decade. The allegations are secondhand, and no complainant has publicly come forward. The Nine newspapers reported the letter calling for an investigation.

The question of whether Steele-John must take leave now sits with Shoebridge, who became leader earlier this month. The Greens operate by consensus in the party room, and Shoebridge has said he would need that backing to pursue expulsion. The WA Greens' independent investigation has not reported its findings.