00:02These allegations were made to the Leader of the Greens, David Shoebridge, in a letter
00:06signed by what we understand were seven party members, and detail allegations towards and
00:12against Senator Jordan Steeljohn spanning over nearly a decade, so going from 2017 to 2025.
00:18And they detail concerns about his behaviour in the presence of women.
00:22One line in the letter says that we're aware of multiple women who have been warned not
00:26to be alone with him.
00:27Now, Jordan Steeljohn has utterly rejected these allegations that have been put to him
00:32and the party.
00:32He's also rejected this characterisation of him.
00:35He says that these claims have been made without specifics and that if anyone had made a specific
00:41allegation, he's prepared to address it.
00:43He has said in relation to one of the alleged complaints that he's actually the victim of
00:48abuse and he's been dealing with the WA police on that matter.
00:51Now, David Shoebridge, speaking yesterday, said, look, he takes this very seriously.
00:55And then we heard from him again this morning saying that until this letter landed, you know,
01:00in his hands earlier this week, he says that he was unaware of these allegations.
01:04And he says that he's acted swiftly and appropriately since he was made aware.
01:09He's saying that he took immediate action.
01:11And now Jordan Steeljohn is taking leave from the party room.
01:15But we also now understand he's taking leave from the wider parliament as well.
01:19Let's listen to David Shoebridge speaking earlier.
01:22That's what's been communicated to me from Senator Steeljohn.
01:25And of course, you know, there are constitutional matters.
01:29I have responsibility for the party room and the Greens' functions.
01:35And I, you know, have some capacity to direct in relation to the party room.
01:40But Senator Steeljohn has indicated to me that he's on leave and that leave means leave.
01:45Nicole, is it clear what happens next for the Senator and indeed for the Greens?
01:48Well, beyond Jordan Steeljohn taking leave, we know that there will be an investigation into these allegations.
01:55Now, this investigation has been put in the hands of the WA Greens and it's meant to be an independent
02:01investigation.
02:02We understand that both David Shoebridge and the Senator have, Senator Jordan Steeljohn, have referred this to WA for investigation.
02:11And Shoebridge says that he wants it to be fair, independent and timely.
02:15Now, exactly what this investigation will entail, we don't yet know.
02:19But we do know the WA Greens are seeking legal advice on the best way to set up an independent
02:24inquiry into this matter.
02:26They're saying that, you know, this does need to be looked into, but also have made the point that Jordan
02:31Steeljohn maintains he hasn't done anything wrong.
02:34And he's entitled to natural justice, procedural fairness and a process that's impartial.
02:40Now, David Shoebridge hasn't committed to releasing the details of this investigation.
02:45We also don't know a time frame.
02:47So there's a lot of questions still to be answered there, Lorna.
02:50I want to ask you something on a separate matter, Nicole.
02:54The Greens leader due to meet the Ukrainian ambassador later on today.
02:59What's that about?
03:00That's right.
03:01So David Shoebridge made some comments, reported in newspapers, saying that he only wants to provide non-lethal aid to
03:10Ukraine.
03:10He's kind of expressed it in keeping with Greens ideas and Greens policy.
03:16It's created a bit of a divide in the party.
03:19We heard from Sarah Hansen-Young after that, saying that, you know, she supports providing military aid to Ukraine and
03:26she wants that to come.
03:27She wants all military aid to come from a position of de-escalating.
03:31But she's also aware that people can't be left to fend for themselves.
03:35And that's to the point of supplying military aid to Ukraine.
03:38Now, we've heard from Ukraine's ambassador, Visele Miroshenko, today saying that, you know, non-lethal aid, all well and good,
03:46but we don't live in a fairytale land.
03:48But he says he's looking forward to meeting with David Shoebridge.
03:53I look forward to meeting him today.
03:55I met him many times previously.
03:57It's important to make the distinction between the offensive wars of choice, aggression and expansion and the wars for its
04:06desperate defence and national survival.
04:09And we don't leave in a fantasy world of the unicorns.
04:13Ukraine got invaded 12 years ago.
04:17Russians shot down MH17 flight, where they killed 38 Australians on board.
04:23So, I want to talk to Senator tonight and actually today, when I'm going to be seeing him, about that
04:28accountability and about our ability to defend ourselves.
04:32We need collective democracies to support us, because we gave up our nuclear weapons, which is very much supported by
04:38the Greens policy, in exchange for its security guarantees, which were so blatantly violated by Russia.
04:45That the Australian Greens, like the Austrian government, like the Swiss government, like the South Korean government, like governments across
04:53the world, do not believe in international arms trade.
04:58Now, one of the four principles of the party is peace and non-violence.
05:03And that is a core principle that the Greens have.
05:07Now, we understand this meeting came about after David Shoebridge put in a call to the Ukraine ambassador, and we're
05:13expecting that meeting to happen this evening, and it will be happening at the embassy, we understand, Lorna.
