The Greens face more internal turmoil as federal leader David Shoebridge denies strong-arming Senator Jordon Steele-John over misconduct allegations.

Steele-John is being investigated over several incidents in which he is alleged to have behaved inappropriately toward women.

In an open letter posted to his social media on Sunday, the Western Australian senator said “nasty political games” had weaponised elements of his personal history.

The 32-year-old also accused Shoebridge of effectively trying to force him to take leave from the party room when the allegations, which span nearly a decade between 2017 and 2025, became public.

“It was a bad call from David,” Steele-John wrote.

“To be clear, I am not on leave and did not agree to the inclusion of that line within David’s statement.”

But a spokesperson for Shoebridge said on Monday he believed the pair had agreed Steele-John would take leave. He announced it as a decision Steele-John had made himself, along with confirming he would self-refer information to the WA Greens for investigation.

“Senator Shoebridge remains of the opinion that leave is appropriate under the circumstances and reiterates that this in no way prejudges any of the matters being referred to an inquiry commissioned by the WA Greens,” the spokesperson said.

“It was the understanding of Senator Shoebridge that leave was agreed.”

Steele-John has vehemently denied any wrongdoing but said the circumstances had made it reasonable for people to assume guilt on his part.

That had occurred not just because of Shoebridge’s actions, he wrote, but as a result of broader factionalism in the party.

“This is an attempt to influence forthcoming party preselections by deliberately leaking out of context or misleading information to smear potential candidates and myself,” he wrote.

Shoebridge, who is only a few weeks into his job as party leader, has denied any prior knowledge of allegations about his colleague.

“This process must include procedural fairness for all involved, with the key findings made public,” his spokesperson said.

The leader has no say over what is published, with the investigation being held in another jurisdiction.

Thursday’s announcement came after seven Greens members wrote to Shoebridge demanding an investigation into Steele-John’s behaviour in the presence of women.

Steele-John said the letter’s authors had outlined no allegations in detail but vowed to participate in any investigation into specific incidents. He claimed it wasn’t a coincidence the letter was written a day after the party agreed on a timeline for the next preselection.

Steele-John, who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, said a nickname “feels on wheels” was originally a slur used by opponents to mock his disability and emotions. It had been corrupted over time to refer to alleged inappropriate conduct towards women, he said.

He denied any knowledge of an alleged instance of sexual harassment at a 2024 Greens campaign event.

“I don’t know how I could respond, or how anyone would begin to investigate it,” he said.

A third matter mentioned in the letter, reportedly referring to serious sexual misconduct, had arisen from an allegedly abusive former relationship, with police having investigated Steele-John and laid no charges.

Steele-John also offered an explanation for a 47-page “secret dossier” that reportedly delivered a playbook for Greens media advisers to downplay concerns about him that could surface in the news or social media.

The file, first written in 2016 before Steele-John entered parliament, allegedly strategised how to quash media coverage and monitor party members and journalists who raised allegations, which the document had reportedly listed.

But Steele-John said its real purpose was to clean up a smear campaign that had been based on “half-heard rumours” of an interpersonal conflict between himself and two women.

-AAP