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Greens leader denies knowledge of ‘secret dossier’ on how to handle Jordon Steele-John misconduct allegations

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Cite

Canales, S. B. (2026, October 16). Greens leader denies knowledge of ‘secret dossier’ on how to handle Jordon Steele-John misconduct allegations. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/oct/16/david-shoebridge-denies-secret-dossier-jordon-steel-john-misconduct-allegations-ntwnfb

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The Guardian · collected 2026-10-16 · by Sarah Basford Canales

Quick Summary

David Shoebridge, leader of the Australian Greens, denied knowing about a “secret dossier” containing misconduct allegations against Senator Jordon Steele-John and instructions on how to handle media coverage. The document was reportedly drafted in 2016 and allegedly contained details of inappropriate comments made by Steele-John between 2017 and 2025. In response to these claims, Shoebridge stated that the Greens leader’s office neither had access nor used the document. Steele-John confirmed he would step away from party duties until independent investigations are completed, rejecting the allegations against him.
Written by AI on 2026-10-16, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

As of October 16, 2026, Greens leader David Shoebridge denied having knowledge of a "secret dossier" containing misconduct allegations against Western Australian Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John. Nine newspapers reported that this document, first drafted in 2016, detailed how to handle and suppress media coverage of the allegations. In response, Shoebridge stated that his office neither created nor used the document. Steele-John confirmed he would leave the party room after historical complaints about inappropriate comments made between 2017 and 2025 were revealed in the media. The Greens co-conveners Giz Watson and Simone Collins, along with state director Dean Smith, emphasized their commitment to ensuring a safe workplace for all members.

Written for “Greens Leader Denies Dossier Knowledge” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Greens Leader Denies Dossier Knowledge
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 11% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Daily Mail
Hedges 1 of 10 claims Outlet record 68/100
“The articles describe different aspects of an ongoing situation involving Jordon Steele-John, with Article A focusing on party members demanding an investigation and Article B on the Greens leader denying knowledge of a secret dossier.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses David Shoebridge denying knowledge of a secret dossier regarding Jordon Steele-John's misconduct allegations, while Article B covers Steele-John's denial of inappropriate conduct and addresses the public fallout from the allegations.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 2 of 32 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A discusses David Shoebridge's denial of knowledge about a 'secret dossier', while Article B comments on the hypocrisy of The Greens' stance regarding Jordon Steele-John's allegations, without mentioning the specific document.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 40 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss similar allegations and a secret dossier related to Jordon Steele-John, they describe different aspects of the ongoing situation: Article A focuses on Shoebridge's denial of knowledge about the document, while Article B reports on Greens insiders demanding public findings.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 0 of 7 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A reports on Senator Jordon Steele-John taking leave from the party room amid allegations, while Article B focuses on Greens leader David Shoebridge denying knowledge of a secret dossier related to the same senator's misconduct allegations. These describe different aspects of the situation but not the same specific incident.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 5 of 21 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss allegations against Jordon Steele-John and his subsequent absence from parliament, Article B focuses on Greens leader David Shoebridge denying knowledge of a 'secret dossier' document which is not the main topic of Article A.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 6 of 85 claims Outlet record 61/100
“Article A discusses the creation and use of a secret dossier by the Greens to manage allegations against Steele-John, while Article B reports on the Greens leader's denial of knowledge about the existence of this document.”
ABC News (AU)
Hedges 1 of 32 claims Outlet record 68/100
“Article A describes the maintenance and existence of a crisis communications document by WA Greens, while Article B focuses on Greens leader David Shoebridge denying knowledge of such a 'secret dossier'.”
The Sydney Morning Herald
Hedges 2 of 19 claims Outlet record 61/100
“While both articles discuss allegations against Jordon Steele-John and a secret dossier maintained by the Greens, Article A focuses on the denial of knowledge by David Shoebridge regarding the document's existence, whereas Article B calls for an investigation into the party's processes related to Steele-John.”
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 5 of 26 claims Outlet record 68/100
“While both articles discuss Jordon Steele-John and David Shoebridge in relation to misconduct allegations, they describe different specific events occurring on separate dates.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
18
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
11%
2 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
66/100
The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 2714 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Sarah Basford Canales
15 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 In question time in early September, the prime minister told the house the money would go toward “an environmental project stopping raw sewage going into the Cooks River during flooding”.
🔮 Jordon Steele-John has confirmed he will not attend parliament next week as the embattled Greens senator releases a letter detailing the allegations against him.
🔮 Only if two-thirds of the party room - or more than seven members - decided to expel him in a secret ballot, would Steele-John have no option but to comply.
🔮 Nine newspapers reported last week that seven party members had demanded an investigation into allegations Steel-John had acted inappropriately towards women between 2017 and 2025. Steele-John, in his Sunday night statement, said he was not on leave, contrary to Shoebridge’s comments last week, and claimed he had been pressured by the leader to request leave on Thursday as Nine’s story was breaking. “I feel that he used those meetings to repeatedly pressure me to say that I would take leave,” Steele-John said on Sunday.
🔮 Steele-John said some of the letter’s authors and signatories may have signed the letter out of “genuine commitment” to people who experienced violence but he was angry it had been politicised.
🔮 Steele-John confirmed he would leave the party room on Thursday after some details of historical complaints about inappropriate comments made to women ranging between 2017 and 2025 were publicly aired in the media.
🔮 The resources minister, Madeleine King, is facing calls to correct her claim in a major speech that all greenhouse gas emissions from developing a massive fossil fuel basin in the Northern Territory will be offset to limit their impact on the climate.
🔮 The resources minister, Madeleine King, says Australian industry will be reliant on gas for the “foreseeable future”, and that the national gas reservation scheme will push down power prices. But the Western Australian MP did not put a price tag on the cost of gas under the proposal– as the former opposition leader, Peter Dutton, once did – nor predict when households and businesses would start to see that financial relief. The national gas reservation scheme will force gas companies to set aside 20% of exports for domestic use, and is expected to come into effect from January 2028.
🔮 The One Nation MP said the party’s national head office would pay the market rate to Rinehart’s company to rent the space, claiming there would be no mate’s rates.
🔮 “No serious observer of what’s going on right now would conclude anything other than [that],” he told ABC’s Insiders.
Also by Sarah Basford Canales
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 15 articles by Sarah Basford Canales →

Topics

ABC Greens Guardian Australia Shoebridge Western Australian

Subjects

Shoebridge PERSON · 5× Greens ORG · 4× Steele-John PERSON · 4× ABC ORG · 2× Guardian Australia ORG · 2× Western Australian NORP · 2× David Shoebridge PERSON · 1× Jordon Steele-John PERSON · 1× Nine ORG · 1× PWSS ORG · 1×

Narrative

A statement from the co-conveners, Giz Watson and Simone Collins, and state director, Dean Smith, said: “Our party is built on the contributions of members, volunteers, staff and supporters, and every one of them deserves to feel safe and respected when they take part in our work.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 Steele-John confirmed he would leave the party room on Thursday after some details of historical complaints about inappropriate comments made to women ranging between 2017 and 2025 were publicly aired in the media.

Claims (18 extracted, 2 hedged)

Greens leader David Shoebridge has denied knowledge of the existence of an alleged crisis management document on how to deal with allegations against Jordon Steele-John being made public. asserted
Shoebridge → deny → John
The Nine newspapers reported on Friday afternoon the existence of a “secret dossier”, first drafted in 2016, which contained misconduct allegations against the Western Australian Greens senator and how to suppress their media coverage. asserted
which → report → coverage
Guardian Australia has not independently confirmed the document’s contents. asserted
Australia → confirm → contents
In a statement responding to claims that the federal leader’s office had access to the 47-page document, Shoebridge said it was not “made by, used by, or seen by the leader’s office”. uncertain
it → respond → office
“The office is committed to having the matters comprehensively investigated with a fair, independent and timely process,” he said. asserted
he → commit → process
“Everyone deserves a safe workplace, and all complaints should be considered in a fair and robust process.” asserted
complaints → deserve → process
Steele-John confirmed he would leave the party room on Thursday after some details of historical complaints about inappropriate comments made to women ranging between 2017 and 2025 were publicly aired in the media. asserted
details → confirm → media
The 32-year-old senator rejected the claims and said he had referred them to the Western Australian Greens for a “fair, independent process” that “upholds the principles of natural justice and ensures procedural fairness for everyone involved”. “I utterly reject this characterisation of me, which tries to assert I am someone I am not,” Steele-John said in a statement. uncertain
John → reject → statement
Shoebridge told ABC on Friday morning he referred the complaints outlined in a letter to the parliamentary workplace support service, which he said was “unable to deal with it because of the circumstances and nature of the allegation”. asserted
he → tell → allegation
The PWSS’s chief executive, Leonie McGregor, said the office had not been given the letter but had provided Shoebridge’s office with options, including referring the complaints to the independent parliamentary standards commission. asserted
office → say → commission
Guardian Australia understands Shoebridge has now referred the matter to the IPSC. asserted
Shoebridge → understand → IPSC
The WA Greens confirmed on Thursday they would “seek legal advice on how best to establish an independent inquiry” into the matters raised. asserted
they → confirm → matters
A statement from the co-conveners, Giz Watson and Simone Collins, and state director, Dean Smith, said: “Our party is built on the contributions of members, volunteers, staff and supporters, and every one of them deserves to feel safe and respected when they take part in our work. asserted
they → say → work
Maintaining that safety is a responsibility we hold seriously.” asserted
we → maintain → safety
Shoebridge confirmed Steele-John would not return to parliament until the independent investigations had been completed. asserted
investigations → confirm → parliament
“It’s my understanding that leave means leave,” he told ABC. asserted
he → ’ → ABC
“I have responsibility for the party room and the Greens’ functions, and I have some capacity to direct in relation to the party room. asserted
I → have → room
But Senator Steele-John has indicated to me that he’s on leave, and that leave means leave.” asserted
leave → indicate → leave
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