Quick Facts
Biography
Jordon Alexander Steele-John (born 14 October 1994) is an Australian disability rights advocate and politics student, likely to become a member of the Australian Senate representing Western Australia for the Australian Greens replacing Scott Ludlam, who resigned after realising his New Zealand citizenship had not been renounced .
If Steele-John is appointed at age 22, he will become the youngest sitting member in the Australian parliament, and youngest ever senator. It is likely that the High Court of Australia, sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns, will order the Australian Electoral Commission to conduct a recount of senate ballots in Western Australia, and Steele-John is expected to be elected in that recount.
Early life and career
Born in the United Kingdom, Steele-John came as a young child to Australia with his parents. Steele-John is a disability advocate and university student, who has stood for the Greens in both federal and state elections. He uses a wheelchair due to mild cerebral palsy, and is studying politics at Macquarie University by correspondence. A deferral of studies is expected.
He has a British accent, but is "absolutely sure" of his single-citizenship of Australia, having renounced British citizenship in preparation for the 2013 Federal Election.
Political career
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. At 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 is expected to enter the Australian Senate in the wake of two Greens senators being forced to resign due to being (unbeknownst to either) dual citizens in contravention of section 44 of the Australian Constitution. In particular, the Greens' lead candidate in Western Australia, Scott Ludlam.