It seems like a long time since the Greens were seen as a fresh, rising voice dedicated to what was at the time a growing cause — the environment.
They brought new ways of thinking to suburban Australia. Thinking which is now mainstream.
Such as recycling, minimising waste — especially of plastic — saving water, native gardens, mulching and tree cover. Forests have been saved. Solar panels sit proudly on household roofs across the nation.
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But the party has veered off course.
It has turned into a lecturing, hectoring, badgering, group of malcontents whose aim appears to be making themselves as disruptive as possible in opposing industry and good government.
And in so doing they have adopted a holier-than-thou attitude.
They are never more happy than when they can reach for their version of moral superiority and talk down their noses at anyone who might have the temerity to disagree with them.
This has been expressed across a range of issues such as gender, diversity, multiculturalism and race.
They have backed ever more extreme causes and found themselves alongside the pro-Gaza, pro-Palestine, anti-Israel mobs and behaviours that saw city streets become battle grounds.
It is exactly the kind of approach that turns off Australians in droves.
And now their pretensions of moral superiority are falling apart as the party descends into crisis over allegations about Senator Jordon Steele-John.
The West Australian took leave from his party room amid allegations about his personal behaviour towards female colleagues.
Several party members have raised formal complaints about the senator making inappropriate comments to women over a decade, which will now be investigated by the WA Greens in an “independent” process.
Greens leader David Shoebridge said his party took the concerns “extremely seriously” and had accepted his colleague’s request for leave as Senator Steele-John strenuously denied the claims made against him.
Senator Shoebridge confirmed he had received a letter on Tuesday — sent by five current and former staffers, as well as two members of the party — outlining how the group was aware of “multiple allegations” involving Senator Steele-John.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the letter sent to the Greens leader outlined allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Senator Steele-John alleged to have occurred between 2017 and 2025.
“These allegations all concern his behaviour in the presence of women. We are aware of multiple women who have taken up roles or volunteered in the party, who because of these allegations, have been warned not to . . . be alone with him,” the authors reportedly said.
“These warnings have come from inside and outside the party, demonstrating that knowledge of his alleged reputation extends beyond party membership and out into the community.”
The Greens staffers who formally complained have reportedly also claimed that inside Parliament House Senator Steele-John has a widely used nickname which reflects his alleged inappropriate behaviour.
Senator Shoebridge claimed the letter was the first he had heard of the allegations
That tests the boundaries of the believable.
Members of the Greens have raised questions about whether the party may have turned a blind eye to complaints about the senator’s alleged conduct over the past decade.
Another piece of moral armour has just fallen off.
