NDIS Estimates: Greens Senator Steele-John Will Not Attend Amid Leave Dispute

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John will sit out the Senate estimates hearing on the National Disability Insurance Scheme this week, a decision that puts a party disagreement over his status in public view.

The party's federal leader, David Shoebridge, announced early this month that Steele-John would step aside while an independent investigation reviewed allegations of inappropriate behaviour toward women. The Nine newspapers reported that a three-page letter had been sent to Shoebridge asking for such a probe; it cited secondhand claims that the Western Australian senator had acted inappropriately toward women between 2017 and 2025. Steele-John, 32, rejected the allegations and said he had not agreed to leave parliament. He also accused an internal faction of the WA Greens of releasing the letter to the media for political reasons, calling it "nasty political games," and said he spoke publicly because he did not want silence to be read as guilt.

Shoebridge has said Steele-John agreed to take leave but cannot compel the step alone. Under the party's process, forcing the senator out of the party room would require a secret ballot in which more than seven members, two-thirds of the room, voted to expel him. Shoebridge has said he would need party room backing to pursue that route.

The allegations are secondhand, and no complainant has come forward directly. The letter covers conduct alleged between 2017 and 2025. It is also an open question whether political rivals of Steele-John in Western Australia raised the claims in connection with a state pre-selection contest.

Steele-John, the party's disability spokesperson, said in a statement issued late on Friday that he had explored taking part in estimates digitally 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." The NDIS is scheduled to undergo major changes between now and the end of the decade, and the Senate estimates process allows senators to question officials about government policy. Steele-John will not attend.

The question of whether Steele-John must take leave remains with the party room. Any move to expel him would require a two-thirds vote in a secret ballot.