Australia news LIVE: Greens senator claims rumours weaponised against him, denies being on leave from party; Riots, looting in France as more than half a million protsters take to streets

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Kaine, E. (2026, October 18). Australia news LIVE: Greens senator claims rumours weaponised against him, denies being on leave from party; Riots, looting in France as more than half a million protsters take to streets. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-greens-senator-claims-rumours-weaponised-against-him-denies-being-on-leave-from-party-riots-looting-in-france-as-more-than-half-a-million-protsters-take-to-streets-20261019-p616k6.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-10-18 · by Emily Kaine

Quick Summary

Greens senator Jordon Steele-John denies rumours that he is on leave from his party amid an investigation, accusing internal factions of using these claims for political gain. In France, protests over cost-of-living issues and school standards turned violent, with more than half a million protesters taking to the streets, leading to riots and looting in major cities, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to condemn the violence.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-18, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John has taken leave from his party room amid allegations of inappropriate comments towards women, following a letter sent to Greens leader David Shoebridge by seven party members demanding an investigation. The allegations date back to 2017 and involve behavior in the presence of women until 2025. Steele-John denies wrongdoing but accuses internal factions within the party of weaponizing rumors for political gain, specifically targeting forthcoming preselections. An independent investigation commissioned by the Western Australian Greens is now underway and has been referred to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission. Steele-John insists he is not on leave from parliament and will participate in any specific allegation investigations.

Written for “Greens Senator Leave Amid Allegations” on 2026-10-18, grounded in this article and the 9 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political question, so it has no leaning score. That is an answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political position.
No political leaning scored for article 89310 · logged 2026-10-18

Story

📰 Greens Senator Leave Amid Allegations
Politics · 10 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Women allegedly warned not to be alone with senator accused of misconduct different event · 95%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 50% hedged 1 of 2 📰 publisher trust 61
“Article A describes women being warned not to be alone with Senator Steele-John, while Article B covers his denial of taking leave and accusation that rumors are weaponized against him.”
WA Greens kept crisis comms document about Jordon Steele-John different event · 95%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 3% hedged 1 of 32 📰 publisher trust 69
“The articles discuss related topics but describe different events, one about maintaining a crisis communications document and another about Steele-John's denial of taking leave from the party.”
Jordan Steele-John hits back after he was accused of inappropriate behaviour around women: 'Nasty political games' same event · 95%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left 🔴 19% hedged 5 of 26 📰 publisher trust 64
“Both articles discuss Greens senator Jordon Steele-John's denial of inappropriate behavior allegations and his accusation against factions within the party, referring to the same incident on October 18, 2026.”
‘Nasty political games’: Steele-John claims rumours were weaponised, denies taking leave same event · 95%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 6% hedged 3 of 54 📰 publisher trust 61
“Both articles report on Senator Jordon Steele-John's denial of taking leave from the Greens party and his accusation that rumours about him have been weaponised for political reasons, at the same time.”
Jordon Steele-John says he has been falsely accused of inappropriate conduct same event · 95%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 4% hedged 1 of 23 📰 publisher trust 69
“Both articles discuss Greens senator Jordon Steele-John denying allegations of inappropriate conduct and addressing public fallout from the accusations, indicating they are reporting on the same specific incident.”
Breaking: Greens senator takes leave amid allegations of comments towards women different event · 85%
ABC News (AU)
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 7 📰 publisher trust 69
“The articles describe different phases of the same issue, with Article A reporting Steele-John taking leave amid allegations and Article B reporting him denying he is on leave while accusing others of weaponizing rumors.”
‘Leave means leave’: Greens senator to stay away from parliament during investigation different event · 85%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 24% hedged 5 of 21 📰 publisher trust 61
“While both articles mention Senator Jordon Steele-John's absence from parliament due to an investigation, Article B includes additional context and a new statement from Steele-John denying he is on leave from the party, indicating it covers developments after the original incident reported in Article A.”
Steele-John probe should examine Greens processes, publish key findings: WA MPs different event · 85%
The Sydney Morning Herald
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 2 of 19 📰 publisher trust 61
“Article A discusses WA MPs urging the Greens to publicly release findings from their investigation into Steele-John, while Article B covers Steele-John's denial of being on leave and accusation that rumours are weaponized against him.”
Greens leader denies knowledge of ‘secret dossier’ on how to handle Jordon Steele-John misconduct allegations different event · 75%
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 11% hedged 2 of 18 📰 publisher trust 67
“While both articles mention Jordon Steele-John and David Shoebridge, they describe different aspects of related events rather than a single specific incident.”
Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John takes leave after party members demand investigation into alleged conduct towards women different event · 50%
Daily Mail
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 10% hedged 1 of 10 📰 publisher trust 64
“While both articles discuss allegations against Greens Senator Jordon Steele-John, they describe different aspects of the situation: one focuses on party members demanding an investigation and Steele-John taking leave, while the other reports Steele-John denying being on leave and accusing factions of weaponizing rumors.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
8
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 8 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
10
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-18 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Emily Kaine
15 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 - Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has accused factions within the party of weaponising rumours about him for political reasons, as he denied taking leave from the party despite leader David Shoebridge claiming Steele-John would not be in parliament while the investigation is ongoing.
2026-10-18 · assertive framing · Australia news LIVE: Greens senator claims rumours weaponised against him, denies being on leave from party; Riots, looting in France as more than half a million protsters take to streets
🔮 Senator Jordon Steele-John will not attend parliament while allegations against him are investigated, as Greens leader David Shoebridge again refused to say whether the results of an independent inquiry into the senator should be made public.
2026-10-15 · mixed framing · ‘Leave means leave’: Greens senator to stay away from parliament during investigation
🔮 She revealed the reforms would capture US President Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform and unveiled a list of online harms proscribed under the legislation.
2026-10-15 · assertive framing · Australia news LIVE: Wells says gender ‘debates’ would not be policed in reforms; Trump administration will not livestream firing squad execution
🔮 - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wants to block the planned livestream of a US execution by firing squad after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth promised the public would be able to watch it.
2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Australia news LIVE: Albanese wants to block livestream of US execution in Australia; Chalmers says progressives have to take One Nation’s rise seriously
🔮 A controversial plan to redevelop playing fields and facilities at a park in Sydney’s west will go ahead, despite repeated warnings it will drive children away from sport and pose serious safety risks.
2026-10-11 · assertive framing · Controversial redevelopment of playing fields to drive kids out of sport, locals warn
🔮 Patients who visited an unregistered provider of cosmetic and medical procedures in Sydney may have been exposed to hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV and should monitor for skin infections, the Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) warned on Thursday.
2026-10-08 · mixed framing · Urgent warning over ‘backyard’ Sydney cosmetic procedures
🔮 - The Greens elected David Shoebridge as their new leader yesterday, with Victorian senator Steph Hodgins-May as deputy.
2026-09-30 · mixed framing · Australia news LIVE: Chalmers says inflation still lower than expected after rise, but another rate hike on horizon; Crew members, passengers intervene after midair pilot stabbing
🔮 Bullock warned there could be more hikes on the way.
2026-09-29 · mixed framing · Australia news LIVE: Bullock blames domestic spending for rate hike, inflation as government insists global factors to blame; No explosives found inside vans searched in UK terror probe
🔮 - Treasurer Jim Chalmers will reveal a $6 billion budget boost today as he faces internal pressure to curb inflation ahead of the Reserve Bank’s likely decision to raise interest rates to a 15-year-high.
2026-09-27 · mixed framing · Australia news LIVE: Chalmers to reveal $6 billion budget boost ahead of interest rate decision; Cybersecurity experts say government blew OpenAI breach out of proportion
🔮 - Albanese will also use an address in New York to declare the post-1945 international order “no longer fit for purpose” and warn Australia must help to replace it as growing strategic competition between the US and China transforms the Indo-Pacific.
2026-09-23 · assertive framing · Australia news LIVE: AI agent breaks into Medicare, Albanese reveals; Harvey Weinstein sentenced to 15 years for sexual assault
Also by Emily Kaine
‘Leave means leave’: Greens senator to stay away from parliament during investigation
2026-10-15 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Wells says gender ‘debates’ would not be policed in reforms; Trump administration will not livestream firing squad execution
2026-10-15 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Albanese wants to block livestream of US execution in Australia; Chalmers says progressives have to take One Nation’s rise seriously
2026-10-13 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Controversial redevelopment of playing fields to drive kids out of sport, locals warn
2026-10-11 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 15 articles by Emily Kaine →

Topics

French Greens Iran Israel the Reserve Bank

Subjects

French NORP · 2× David Shoebridge PERSON · 1× Donald Trump PERSON · 1× Greens ORG · 1× Iran GPE · 1× Israel GPE · 1× Jordon Steele-John PERSON · 1× Netanyahu PERSON · 1× Steele-John PERSON · 1× the Reserve Bank ORG · 1×

Narrative

- Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has accused factions within the party of weaponising rumours about him for political reasons, as he denied taking leave from the party despite leader David Shoebridge claiming Steele-John would not be in parliament while the investigation is ongoing.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-18
🔮 - Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has accused factions within the party of weaponising rumours about him for political reasons, as he denied taking leave from the party despite leader David Shoebridge claiming Steele-John would not be in parliament while the investigation is ongoing.
2026-10-18 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Greens senator claims rumours weaponised against him, denies being on leave from party; Riots, looting in France as more than half a million protsters take to streets · assertive framing

Claims (8 extracted, 0 hedged)

Here’s what is making headlines this morning. asserted
what → ’ → headlines
- Greens senator Jordon Steele-John has accused factions within the party of weaponising rumours about him for political reasons, as he denied taking leave from the party despite leader David Shoebridge claiming Steele-John would not be in parliament while the investigation is ongoing. asserted
investigation → accuse → parliament
- Concerns are growing within the Reserve Bank that the fallout from the war against Iran means inflation will remain elevated and force it to push interest rates higher. asserted
inflation → grow → rates
Senior sources within the bank told this masthead that oil prices were showing no sign of falling as the war in the Middle East broadens. asserted
war → tell → East
- Overseas, there is a little over a week remaining until election day in Israel and the latest polls show the pro- and anti-Netanyahu blocs evenly matched. asserted
blocs → be → Israel
US President Donald Trump endorsed Netanyahu in a glowing social media post and urged Israelis to support him when they vote on October 27. asserted
they → endorse → October
- And protesters clashed with police for a second day in major French cities after massive rallies about the cost of living and school standards descended into violence and looting. asserted
rallies → clash → violence
French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence in an emergency address to the nation. asserted
Macron → condemn → nation
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