John Setka must go and the union needs to make it happen

Allowing Setka to remain in his position of power and influence sends the wrong message to the mostly male members of his union. It tells them that people should be willing to look the other way over violence and threats.

Today I am embarrassed to be a union member. Watching the union movement close ranks around CFMEU boss John Setka is depressing as hell.

Yesterday Setka was charged with using a using a carriage service to harass his wife Emma Walters and breach a court order. He is now on a 12-month good behaviour bond.

No apologetic words can erase the fact that Setka called his wife 25 times on one night and sent her 45 text messages which contained “insults and offensive language” after she fled the family home in fear.

He called her a “drunken moron”, a “c---”, a “f---ing dog” and a “weak piece of s---”.

He sent photos showing her property being destroyed and removed from their family home, along with family photos with her face scrubbed out.

It’s no wonder Walters has said she was scared of her husband.

Someone with such a history of violence should not continue to lead a major union.

Setka must go, and it’s up to the union movement to make this happen.

John Setka and Emma Walters pictured in Melbourne after John pled guilty to harassing his wife and was put on a good behaviour bond. Picture: Mark Stewart

Allowing Setka to remain in his position of power and influence sends the wrong message to the mostly male members of his union. It tells them that people should be willing to look the other way when others are violent and threatening. It also makes ACTU boss Sally

McManus look weak and ineffectual.

Magistrate Belinda Wallington yesterday castigated Setka for his “nasty behaviour” and “misogynist” language.

Standing dutifully by her husband’s side yesterday, Walters pleaded for Setka to be left alone to “do his job”. This is the last thing that should happen.

Setka hasn’t taken responsibility, because all he did yesterday was blame other people and external forces for his behaviour.

He said he had “screwed up” and admitted that words and text harassment were as harmful as physical violence.

Walters also downplayed the seriousness of the episode, stressing that there was no physical violence.

She said: “I want to be very clear though, that while John and I have at times deeply hurt one another, there has never been any form of physical violence in our marriage or in our home”.

Sekta and Walters speak to the media outside the Melbourne Magistrates Court. Picture: AAP

Even the union’s own anti-violence material makes it clear that emotional and psychological abuse can be just as harmful as physical violence. So, this stance is hypocritical at best and damaging at worst.

I don’t care how hard Setka has had it. Sure, being arrested in front of their kids and facing 15 years of jail would be hard. But lesser men have been through much more without using stress as a justification for abusing their wives.

This is not the first time Setka has behaved inappropriately. He’s also threatened to reveal the addresses of building watchdog employees and used his young children in a shameful social media protest.

At this point, key Labor figures like Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and McManus say Setka must be expelled from the Labor Party. The party is expected to make this happen, and yet they are powerless to make him step down from his prestigious post.

This week union leaders have thrown their support around Setka, including the Maritime Union of Australia WA and the Electrical Trades Union.

If it’s true that the CFMEU stands against family violence, as Setka claims, then it should expel the man who’s been violence towards his own wife.

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