James Campbell: Emma Walters’ job is bad news for Labor leader Anthony Albanese

Adem Somyurek giving John Setka’s wife Emma Walters a job in his electoral office sends a clear message to Labor leader Anthony Albanese, writes James Campbell.

Spare a thought today for Anthony Albanese. The poor bloke must have felt like throwing a chair around his office on Tuesday when news broke about who is about to join the staff of Victoria’s Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek.

Normally, of course, who gets to answer the phone in an electorate office in Dandenong would not be worth reporting.

The reason this was noteworthy is because the newly employed electorate officer is Emma Walters.

It is, on the face of it, a curious appointment. Walters lives in the western suburbs and cannot at present drive a motor car on account of her upcoming appearance at the Horsham Magistrates Court to discuss the matter of the 0.28 per cent she allegedly blew while speeding along the Western Highway.

Emma Walters is about to join the staff of Victoria’s Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek.

Given it’s not her first time at the drink-driving disco — she admitted blowing 0.25 in the more lenient days of 2006 — if convicted she’s not going to be driving to work any time soon.

Walters is usually described in media reports as a lawyer, which is correct. But despite being employed for most of the past decade at Labor law-firms — first Slater and Gordon and later Gordon Legal — for most of that time she has not had a practising certificate. No doubt she has many other skills but it’s hard not to suspect that among the reason those law firms kept her around — and indeed why Somyurek is keen to have her on staff — is that Walters’ husband is John Setka, boss of the Construction Division of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.

Setka, it will be recalled, on Albanese’s initiative is presently facing expulsion from the ALP. In June, excited at having finally gained his long coveted prize of leadership of the ALP, Albo announced he was asking Labor’s National Executive to punt Setka; not, he explained because of “recently reported admissions of harassment of a woman or any other matter that is yet to be determined by ongoing court proceedings” but on “a range of actions by Mr Setka, including his recent disparaging comments about family violence campaigner Rosie Batty”, comments that “are completely incompatible with the values of the Labor Party and the broader labour movement”.

At the time, the general assumption among those of us who had followed these matters was that Setka’s legal troubles would probably be enough to see him off the premises of the CFMEU. He had been on leave for several months, dealing with personal issues related to his family situation.

Emma Walters and John Setka. Picture: Mark Stewart

The reporting of the alleged comments about Batty seemed to be the final nail in his coffin. Unfortunately, the allegations about the comments turned out to be just that. Almost as soon as they had been reported, witnesses denied he had said what he was supposed to have said. Fast forward to August and CFMEU bosses around the nation have lined up to join Team Setka. The man long-tipped to replace him, Shaun Reardon, is gone from the union. And just last week footage emerged of Trades Hall Council secretary Luke Hilakari leading a chant of “John Setka, here to stay” at a closed-door meeting in July.

The reason Setka is still in the ALP has nothing to do with the fact that he appears to have completely routed his enemies in the union movement however, but because the ALP has given an undertaking not proceed with a vote on expelling him until Victorian Supreme Court Judge Peter Riordan has given his decision on Setka’s application to block it.

The arguments in the case are fascinating and have implications for the ALP that go far beyond whether Setka keeps his ALP membership card.

On my non-lawyer reading of the clever and persuasive submissions by his counsel Geoffrey Kennett, SC and his junior Chris Tran, it seems to be open to Riordan to effectively nullify what in ALP circles is referred to as the “plenary power”. This is the party rule which basically says “never mind what the rules say, the decision of the National Executive trumps them”.

Victoria’s Local Government Minister Adem Somyurek. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

Much of the ALP’s case appears to rest on a 1934 High Court case that limited court powers to intervene in political parties. But worryingly for them, there seemed to be some consensus among the lawyers present that this decision might not stand the test of time were the nation’s top court to revisit the issue.

And indeed it could well end up in a higher jurisdiction. As one Labor powerbroker remarked yesterday, this only underscored the stupidity of Albanese’s decision to take on a cashed-up litigant like Setka.

It had, he said, long been suspected the “plenary power” might be susceptible to a court challenge, which was why, he explained “we only use it against people who can’t afford to go to court”.

The chances are therefore that even if the party prevails in the present case, it is likely to be months, if not years, until the National Executive gets to vote on the issue. That is, if it ever does Albanese might not be so worried about that as you might expect however, because yesterday’s news suggests that in this case there might worse outcomes than being blocked by the courts.

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That’s because in addition to being Emma Walters’ new boss, Somyurek is also a member of Labor’s National Executive.

If Adem’s on Team Setka in the electorate office, the chances are he’ll be Team Setka on the phone hook-up too, raising the prospect that Albo’s supporters might not have the numbers to expel him.

James Campbell is national politics editor.

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