00:01This all centres on allegations first aired in the nine newspapers that Senator Jordan
00:07Steele-John made inappropriate comments to women in this statement, this very lengthy
00:14statement that he released overnight on social media. He's very much denied these allegations.
00:22A letter was reportedly sent to Greens leader David Shoebridge last week where several party
00:28members claim they were aware of allegations dating back to 2017. In this statement, Jordan
00:35Steele-John says that that letter doesn't actually outline specific details in relation to those
00:41allegations. He also believes he's been the subject of a smear campaign and the victim of
00:47factionalism ahead of an expected pre-selection battle in Western Australia ahead of the next
00:54election. In this post, he's also confirmed the existence of a nickname, that nickname being,
01:00and it's quite offensive, that nickname being Feels on Wheels. Senator Steele-John claims
01:05members of other parties use that disparaging nickname to refer to him after he became emotional
01:13while speaking on the issue of the Royal Commission into Violence Against Disabled People. But he also
01:20says in this statement, and I quote, eventually I was informed that this phrase, which mocked my
01:25disability and my emotions, had taken on a new, more sinister meaning that I had treated women
01:32inappropriately. Now, again, Senator Steele-John Cather has vehemently denied those allegations as well.
01:38And Jordan Steele-John has also taken aim at the Greens leader, David Shoebridge. What has he said about
01:44that? Yeah, he's taken a real swipe at David Shoebridge in this statement, accusing him of
01:50letting him down and letting his team down. Senator Steele-John claims that before these allegations
01:56were aired in the newspaper, the pair held a meeting in which David Shoebridge, according to Senator
02:03Steele-John, pressured him to request to take leave. Now, in the wake of that meeting, David Shoebridge
02:10did issue a statement where he said that Senator Jordan Steele-John had requested leave and that
02:16he had accepted that leave from the party room. But Senator Steele-John, in this statement, is very
02:22much disputing that version of events. He says he never requested leave. In fact, he says he's not on
02:28leave. And he says that Senator David Shoebridge doesn't have the power to instruct him or any Greens
02:35MP for that matter to take leave from Parliament or from the party. So, he intends, Jordan Steele-John,
02:41to continue his work as a senator. The WA Greens, they've commissioned an independent probe, they say,
02:48into this matter. And Jordan Steele-John says that, Jordan Steele-John rather, says that he will be
02:54cooperating with that investigation.
