Steele-John has denied all allegations made against him.<\/p>\n
The Western Australian senator said he\u2019d heard the full letter had been circulating online and \u201cdidn\u2019t want to be seen as hiding from it\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m now not sure that was the right call and I\u2019ve taken it down. I am really sorry for any additional stress it caused,\u201d he said on social media.<\/p>\n
After days of confusion following historical complaints about alleged misconduct were publicly aired in the media, the now-deleted statement posted to social media late Friday night said he considered attending Senate estimates virtually but was told it would be \u201cunacceptable\u201d.<\/p>\n
He would instead focus on seeing through an independent investigation to its conclusion, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past few days there has been a growing chorus calling on me not to attend parliament next week. I have explored attending digitally but have been informed that would also be unacceptable,\u201d Steele-John said.<\/p>\n
Steele-John said a precedent of keeping parliamentarians out of parliament after \u201callegations of allegations\u201d were made had now been set.<\/p>\n
\u201cHad an allegation or complaint been made against me, I would have taken these actions immediately,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The 32-year-old senator\u2019s attendance in parliament for the remainder of the year had been uncertain after a public stoush with Shoebridge over whether he was on leave during the investigation.<\/p>\n
The complaints are now subject to an independent investigation commissioned by the WA Greens and have been referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shoebridge claimed Steele-John had requested leave and he accepted it last week after seven party members penned a letter to the leader urging an investigation into the claims.<\/p>\n
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