John Setka and other former Victorian CFMEU officials could be expelled from the union
Disgraced ex-CFMEU secretary John Setka and other former Victorian officials are likely to face disciplinary processes that could see them expelled from the union, in a bombshell move being considered by the administrator.
Disgraced former CFMEU secretary John Setka and other ex-Victorian officials are likely to face disciplinary processes that could see them expelled from the union.
The bombshell move, which would mean Mr Setka and his former union comrades would not be able to run at CFMEU elections for five years, is under consideration by administrator Mark Irving, KC.
Mr Irving signalled the termination of memberships was possible during a hearing of Queensland’s Commission of Inquiry into the CFMEU and misconduct in the construction industry.
He said the union in Victoria had allowed organised crime to take root through a “family” of underworld figures, and that the infiltration of Mr Setka and his forces into South Australia had infected that branch and “we’ve had to go in and remove that cancer”.
The former head of the South Australian branch, Marcus Pare, is the only former executive to have his membership officially terminated, while Mr Irving said that the former heads of the Queensland branch, Michael Ravbar and Jade Ingham, were set to face a disciplinary process that could result in the bans, alongside senior ex-NSW and Victorian officials.
Victorian officials in the firing line include Mr Setka and his former deputy Derek Christopher, as well as former president Elias Spernovasilis and former assistant secretary Joe Myles.
Mr Irving was asked by the inquiry whether an aggressive “Setka model” of industrial relations had been imported to Queensland, to which he said there was already a pattern of violence and lawlessness in that state that was “pretty horrific”.
The administrator said the infiltration of organised crime into union operations was different in each state, and singled out Victoria as a special case.
“In Victoria, there was an infiltration of organised crime within the union’s operations … and by organised crime I include a family of folk, including outlaw motorcycle gangs and the like,” he told the inquiry.
“In Victoria, they had some of these folk come into the union as organisers. They had some of these folk appointed as delegates on key sites and it became part of the fabric and operation, particularly post‑Covid, of the Victorian operations.”
Any disciplinary hearings for Mr Setka and former officials within the CFMEU administration would provide them with an opportunity to respond and contest the move.
However, the hearing was told earlier this week by corruption-busting barrister, Geoffrey Watson, that attempts to ask Mr Setka to meet with investigators had not been successful.
Mr Watson relayed a text exchange he had with Mr Setka in which he was called a “f---ing fat, ugly c--t”.
“He then gave me some weight loss advice, which I’d say my wife does too from time to time,” Mr Watson said.
“That was the response that I got.”
Mr Setka has previously described the work of the administrator as a “witch hunt”.
Last week, Mr Setka was charged with sending threatening and harassing emails to the union administrator, and had devices seized from his home.
