Time for the truth about Jordon Steele-John, rather than conspiracy theories

David Shoebridge has suffered through a baptism of fire in the three weeks since he became Greens leader, first for opposing Australian military aide to Ukraine and then for the conduct of one of his senators, Jordon Steele-John.

The fact that seven current and former Western Australian Greens staffers and party members felt it necessary to write to the new leader and ask for an independent investigation into Steele-John, claiming multiple allegations of inappropriate remarks towards women between 2017 and 2025, has shocked most Australians.

The fact that the party had a crisis communications manual for that entire time and used it to shut down media inquiries, instructed staff to monitor members who posted about Steele-John (and contact them to correct their thinking) is worse, as it demonstrates this was a calculated strategy.

Many more questions need to be answered.

First and foremost, whether the women who experienced the alleged misconduct will actually come forward and speak to the inquiry. My understanding is that at least two women are prepared at this stage to speak about separate incidents that have allegedly occurred in recent years – presumably with safeguards in place to protect their identities.

Next, how this was allowed to fester for a decade. Shoebridge’s view is that the party should have acted decisively when the first allegations were made, rather than simply leaving the matter alone after the first complainants (two other young women separate from those mentioned above) decided to drop their complaint.

We know, for example, that Richard Di Natale, a former Greens leader, is named in the crisis communications document, with instructions that he be kept informed by Greens staff handling the matter. Di Natale has told people he didn’t know about the communications document and that he supports an independent inquiry.

But subsequent former leaders Larissa Waters and Adam Bandt have been notably silent about what they knew and when they knew it. Given it was the same staff in the offices of all three leaders who helped manage this matter, it is hard not to wonder what Waters and Bandt knew.

Much like when former Greens senator Dorinda Cox was accused of workplace bulling and of having a hostile office culture, with 20 of her staff quitting in just three years, some Greens’ first instinct has been to protect their own, shut down inquiries and protect the party.

An internal inquiry into Cox’s conduct went nowhere, predictably, and many older hands in the party reached for the familiar old trope about the mainstream media being out to get the Greens. Bandt, in particular, seemingly did everything in his power to protect Cox from proper scrutiny. What did he know about Steele-John?

Once Cox quit the Greens and defected to Labor, the inquiry – which would have provided the party the perfect platform from which to review and update its HR policies – instead simply disappeared.

Refreshingly, the inquiry into Steele-John will be run by Modern Legal, an independent law firm that specialises in employment law and which was appointed on Wednesday evening by the WA division of the Greens, rather than Greens officials, as was the case with Cox.

Shoebridge is genuine in his desire to ensure an independent inquiry: he wants it done, and done properly. That is the correct approach. As Shoebridge told the ABC’s Sally Sara on Thursday, “when I received this correspondence in relation to quite serious concerns, I determined that it needed to be resolved by an independent, fair, and timely inquiry, and I spoke with Senator Steele-John in relation to that, and he agreed”.

But there are many in the Greens and the disability advocacy sector struggling to accept that, at a minimum, Steele-John has questions to answer. Conspiracy theories about the emergence of the revelations have quickly proliferated, with some believing the publication was timed to deliver a blow to Shoebridge, reduce his authority, and put him under pressure in the party room.

In this scenario, so the claims go, former deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, who Shoebridge beat to the leadership when Waters resigned, is the puppet master pulling the strings to damage her factional opponent, ably assisted by a henchwoman in former ABC journalist turned Greens MLC Sophie McNeill, who sits in the WA state parliament.

What balderdash.

It took me more than two years to gather enough information about Steele-John to be able to run my first exclusive. The idea that it was timed to be a factional hit is laughable.

But while Shoebridge is clear about the direction he needs to head in, Steele-John seems less so. After agreeing to work with the independent inquiry, Steele-John released an impassioned defence of himself on social media. That’s understandable given Steele-John has loudly claimed he has done nothing wrong.

And while Steele-John’s self-defence won praise from some supporters, it looked for all the world as though he was trying to put his thumb on the scales before the inquiry had even started.

The stand-off between Steele-John and Shoebridge over whether the former should take leave from parliament and the Greens party room is even stranger. Steele-John insists he’s not on leave, while Shoebridge on Thursday said he had a different understanding of the conversation but couldn’t force anyone to take leave.

It’s difficult to imagine the WA senator turning up in Canberra next week to participate in Senate estimates hearings and working alongside colleagues from various other parties as if nothing has been alleged. Steele-John is entitled to the presumption of innocence, of course, but turning up in Canberra would be, as Shoebridge noted, out of line with community expectations.

The most important thing that can happen in the weeks and months ahead, as the inquiry gets underway, is that the people who raised concerns about Steele-John and the women who may come to speak at the inquiry are protected, rather than the Greens party itself.

Let the cards fall as they may. And let’s hear the truth. That, for Shoebridge, is the only viable path.

James Massola is chief political commentator.

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