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Jordon Steele-John

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Senator
Jordon Steele-John
Steele-John in 2019
Senator for Western Australia
Assumed office
10 November 2017
Preceded byScott Ludlam
Personal details
Born
Jordon Alexander Steele-John

(1994-10-14) 14 October 1994 (age 29)
Northampton, England, United Kingdom
CitizenshipAustralian
British (1994–2013)
Political partyGreens
Alma materMacquarie University
OccupationPolitician, disability advocate
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website

Jordon Alexander Steele-John (born 14 October 1994) is a British-born Australian politician and disability rights advocate. He is a member of the Australian Senate as a representative of Western Australia, and is a member of the Australian Greens.

He began his political career in 2013, and was elected by declaration to the Senate in 2017.

Steele-John holds the portfolios of Health, Disability Rights and Services, Foreign Affairs and Peace & Nuclear Disarmament for the Australian Greens.

Over his time as a Senator, Steele-John has used his position in Parliament to spearhead the Disability Royal Commission, launch Senate inquiries into dental care and ADHD assessment and support, fight for climate action, and bring the rights of young people, queer people, and disabled people to the forefront of political discourse. [citation needed]

In 2024, he was involved in controversy after stating that vandalising an Australian war memorial was an act of free speech.[1]

Early life and career

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Born in the United Kingdom, Steele-John immigrated as a child to Australia with his parents and grandparents. He and his brother were home-educated.[2]

He cites his upbringing and his parents as a major influence on his political standings.

Steele-John is a disability advocate who, as a student, campaigned for the Greens in both federal and state elections. He joined the Greens at age 16. He says he joined the Greens due to their grassroots system that put their members and voters at the centre of the political process[citation needed]

Steele-John studied politics at Macquarie University by correspondence. However, his appointment to the senate cut short his undergraduate studies.

Steele-John uses a wheelchair due to cerebral palsy.[3] Steele-John renounced British citizenship at age eighteen in preparation for the 2013 federal election, and currently only holds Australian citizenship.[4][5]

Political career

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Prior to being listed as third senate candidate for the Greens in the 2016 federal election (behind Scott Ludlam and Rachel Siewert), Steele-John had been a candidate for the WA Greens three times. He was first a candidate at the age of 18. He was a candidate in the March 2013 state election in the electorate of Warnbro (receiving 8.8% primary vote), the September 2013 federal election in the electorate of Fremantle (receiving 11.9% primary vote) and in the April 2014 special half-senate election which followed the result of the 2013 election being voided by the Court of Disputed Returns (as the fourth candidate on the Greens' list).

Steele-John entered the Australian Senate after Western Australian Senator Scott Ludlam was forced to resign when he was found to be a dual citizen and in contravention of section 44 of the Australian Constitution. On 27 October 2017, the High Court of Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, ordered the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct a recount of senate ballots in Western Australia, and Steele-John was declared elected at age twenty-three, making him the youngest sitting member in the Australian parliament and youngest senator.[3]

Steele-John was re-elected to the Senate at the 2019 federal election, securing 11.8% of the state's vote, with a swing of 1.48% in his favour.[6]

Steele-John has previously held the Greens portfolios of Youth, Defence and Veterans’ Affairs, Digital Rights and I.T., Sustainable Cities, and Trade.

Steele-John has been on 9 Joint Standing Committees, 8 Senate Legislative and General Purpose Standing committees and 4 Senate Select committees including one as chair.

He is currently the co-chair of three Parliamentary Friendship Groups, the Parliamentary Friends of Mental Health, the Parliamentary Friends of Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and the Parliamentary Friends of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.[citation needed]

On 19 September 2023, Steele-John appeared on Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb, in which he speaks with Crabb about being the youngest senator, as well as his early life and progression into politics.

Political positions

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Disability Rights and Services

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In February 2018, Steele-John called for a Royal Commission into disabled prisoner abuse.[7] In April 2018, Steele-John commented on Parliament House's need to become more wheelchair friendly.[8]

In 2019, Steele-John's campaigning successfully led to the establishment of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability. After years of raising the alarm that the confidentiality provisions in the Disability Royal Commission are insufficient, in 2021 he helped secure amendments that protect people making confidential disclosures to the Royal Commission.

In 2020, Steele-John successfully campaigned for a compensation scheme for thalidomide survivors, and in 2021 pressured the government to abolish independent assessments in the NDIS.[9] He continues to campaign to increase the Disability Support Pension (DSP) and Carer Payment.

In 2023, Steele-John expressed his support for the expansion of ADHD diagnoses and treatments to more Australians.[10] He cited the enormous stigmatisation of people with ADHD and the inaccessibility of the medication as motivating factors for this.[11]

Health and Mental Health

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In 2021, Steele-John took on the Australian Greens' Health and Mental Health portfolio and announced the Greens' policy to expand Medicare to cover mental health treatment.[12]

Climate Action

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Steele-John is a strong proponent of urgent climate action. In 2018, he introduced a Senate motion to condemn the lifting of the Western Australian fracking moratorium, which was unsuccessful.[citation needed]

Peace

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In 2020, Steele-John introduced the Defence Amendment (Parliamentary Approval of Overseas Service) Bill 2020, which seeks to ensure the decision to go to war is made by the Parliament, not the Prime Minister.[13]

An active anti-nuclear campaigner, Steele-John is a strong advocate for Australia's signing of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and to rethink the AUKUS alliance.

Video games

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In February 2018, Steele-John expressed disappointment at the lack of government support for the Australian video game development industry.[14][15]

Voting age

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In 2018, Steele-John introduced a bill to lower the voting age to sixteen.[16] He argued that age would be in line with Austria, Argentina, Brazil and Scotland. The bill was not passed by parliament.[17]

References

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  1. ^ "Greens leader Adam Bandt doesn't rebuke Jordon Steele-John over free speech comments related to vandalism of Australian War Memorial". ABC News. July 2024.
  2. ^ Hutchens, Gareth (11 November 2017). "Jordon Steele-John, the 'political nerd' who is ringing the changes". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  3. ^ a b McCauley, Dana (19 July 2017). "Meet the 22-year-old university student in line to become an instant senator". news.com.au. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  4. ^ "'I want the job': 22-year-old Greens Jordon Steele-John to replace Scott Ludlam in Senate". The Sydney Morning Herald. 20 July 2017. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  5. ^ Donovan, Samantha (21 July 2017). "Jordon Steele-John ready to take Scott Ludlam's Senate seat". ABC News. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Senate Results – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)". ABC News. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  7. ^ Butler, Josh (7 February 2018). "Disabled Australian Prisoners Raped, Abused, Kept In Solitary". HuffPost Australia. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  8. ^ "Jordon Steele-John has the loneliest seat in the Senate, and it's locking him out of the parliamentary process". www.msn.com. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
  9. ^ "The federal government has scrapped its controversial NDIS independent assessments plan". SBS News. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  10. ^ Chrysanthos, Natassia (6 July 2023). "Psychiatrists and psychologists push to get ADHD diagnosis on NDIS". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  11. ^ Chrysanthos, Natassia (6 July 2023). "Psychiatrists and psychologists push to get ADHD diagnosis on NDIS". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 18 July 2024.
  12. ^ "Senator Jordon Steele-John Is Now The 1st Ever Health Spokesperson With A Physical Disability". Pedestrian TV. 20 September 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  13. ^ "'Sadness and frustration over Afghanistan': Greens push for bill to restrict PM's war powers". ABC News. 29 August 2021. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  14. ^ Beech, Alexandra (5 February 2018). "Video game developers express frustration at Government inaction". ABC News (Australia). Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  15. ^ Sadler, Denham (7 February 2018). "Game devs will now look offshore". InnovationAus. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  16. ^ "WA Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John pushes to drop voting age to 16". PerthNow. 23 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Legal Voting Age by Country". WorldAtlas. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
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