Blackmail charges against CFMEU pair John Setka, Shaun Reardon withdrawn
BLACKMAIL charges against construction bosses John Setka and Shaun Reardon have been sensationally withdrawn in the middle of their preliminary hearing to see if they were to face trial.
Law & Order
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BLACKMAIL charges against construction bosses John Setka and Shaun Reardon have been sensationally withdrawn in the middle of their preliminary hearing to see if they were to face trial.
The astonishing backflip comes years after the men were charged on the back of statements made by two Boral executives to the royal commission into trade unions.
The union officials have long declared their innocence, taking their challenge to the Supreme Court in an effort to clear their names.
‘NO OVERT AGGRESSION’ AT ALLEGED BLACKMAIL MEETING
The development comes after days of embarrassing testimony from Boral executives Paul Dalton and Peter Head.
Mr Dalton was forced to request a certificate indemnifying him after admitting he had destroyed his original notes taken after a meeting with the men that ultimately led to the charges.
His underling, Mr Head described the cafe meeting with the men as “pleasant”.
“It was calm, it was pleasant. There was no overt aggression but certainly passion for the cause,” he said.
Mr Setka, backed by Mr Reardon, allegedly threatened to blockade Boral plants if it continued to supply cement to builder Grocon as the union fought to see its own officials appointed as OH&S reps on its city sites.
The threats were allegedly directed at the Boral executives during an hour-long meeting at a cafe in North Melbourne in April 2013.
The union bosses were not hit with charges until 2015 after both Boral executives made statements to the royal commission into trade unions.
Mr Setka and Mr Reardon’s legal expenses are likely to run into the millions.
But the union will not seek costs under a deal with the prosecution.
Magistrate Charlie Rozencwajg described the decision to withdraw the charges as “the right one”.
“I think it’s the sensible resolution to this matter,” he said.
Mr Rozencwajg said the hearing highlighted the difference between statements taken from witnesses by lawyers to that by police.
“It highlights how police take statements is far more conducive to getting the facts as witnesses see them,” he said.
The court had previously heard the Boral executives made dozens of drafts of their statements that eventually went before the royal commission.
It was those statements that police used to form the view the pair had been blackmailed at the cafe meeting.
The men have been defended by prominent barrister Robert Richter QC and Neil Clelland QC.
The barristers maintained the union officials should never have been hit with criminal charges.
The Supreme Court of Appeal disagreed, dismissing the pair’s appeal against an earlier Supreme Court decision that found the blackmail charge was lawful.
In its judgment, the court found there was no immunity from criminal prosecution in the case, which Mr Setka’s barristers had argued existed because the alleged threats — if proved — instead represented a contravention of commonwealth competition law.
At an earlier hearing, Mr Richter said the men were not accused of threatening to “kneecap” the Boral executives.
“A threat of serious injury is an offence ... it’s an industrial dispute,” he said.
He argued the existing Commonwealth and state consumer laws were designed to decriminalise industrial relations.
Outside court, Mr Setka condemned Boral and the federal and former state government for what he described as a “conspiracy” to destroy the men.
Mr Setka described the past three years as “daunting”.
“Just in itself, the name blackmail sounds terrible,” he said.
“It does have an effect on your family, on your kids … it was definitely a witch hunt. We know for a fact and the evidence has come out, thanks to our legal team, that it was a witch hunt.”
Mr Setka slammed the Boral executives, who between them compiled 59 draft copies of their royal commission statements that sparked police into laying the charges.
He showed particular bile for Mr Dalton, who destroyed his original notes taken after the café meeting.
“One key witness made 18 drafts and another key witness made 41 drafts. I think there are a lot of people that have got a lot to answer,” he said.
Mr Setka said all the men had been attempting to do was save lives.
“Our job is to preserve life,” he said.
“Our job is to make sure that our members go home to their families every night and that’s all we were trying to do and they were trying to criminalise it,” he said.