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An under-rated part of the JSJ story is how he ended up in parliament. He didn't win a contested party preselection for a winnable seat - he was the #3 on the WA Greens Senate ticket in 2016 behind Ludlam and Siewert. No Green has ever come close to being elected from #3 (or #2 in a half-Senate)

If Ludlam had resigned from the Senate in the normal manner, the party would have had a choice about who they ran, and my understanding was there was a number of contenders in the wings, JSJ was not one of them.

But because Ludlam was disqualified due to citizenship, the seat was filled by a recount, and JSJ was automatically elected. Steele-John could have chosen to resign and let the party conduct a full preselection, but didn't. Since then, he has been preselected and elected, but always from incumbency.

So Bartlett was considered a credible potential MP, even if there wasn't much expectation he would win in 2016. And then he served a brief term and stepped down to run for Brisbane and make room for Waters to return.

So of all the long-term Greens senators in Australia, only Steele-John short-circuited the normal rise in the party and preselection, instead going from a totally unwinnable spot to a safe seat in the Senate.

Related bsky.app/profile/drcl...