A big f..king star’: CFMEU’s John Setka escalates war on AFL

Victoria’s CFMEU leader has launched an expletive-laden defence of his expletives attack on the AFL, declaring he’d get a TV show if his name were Gordon Ramsay.

John Setka, above, has again demanded the AFL sack umpiring boss Stephen McBurney, the former building watchdog. Picture: Stuart McEvoy/The Australian

Victorian CFMEU leader John Setka has launched an expletive-laden defence of his expletive-laden attacks on the AFL, and its umpiring boss and former building watchdog, Stephen McBurney, declaring he would be given his own television show if he changed his name to Gordon Ramsay, the British celebrity chef.

“We’re in Australia, not North Korea. If I want to express a view about McBurney, I’ll express it,” he told The Weekend Australian.

“You know what? They can all go and get f…ked. And if they’re worried about my language, they can go f…k themselves doubly because, guess what, if I changed my name to Gordon Ramsay they’d give me my own TV show and I’d become a big f..king star.

“It’s alright for Gordon Ramsay to swear, be on every f..king TV f..king station, become a big f..king star. Why don’t they go and complain about his language? Why is it different? Have you seen him abuse people and make them cry on his show? Call them f..kheads and f..king idiots

“If John Setka says f..k or sh.t, it’s the end of the world, let’s send him to Guantanamo Bay in orange overalls. But if Gordon Ramsay does it, let’s give him his own cooking show and we’ll promote him on all our posters and everything.

“Jesus f..king Christ. Everyone’s got to f..king wake up. I wouldn’t want my own TV show because I would f..king tell them the f..king truth and they wouldn’t f..king like it.”

Chef Gordon Ramsay from TV show Kitchen Nightmares.

Mr Setka rejected criticism of his threats to wage a work to rule campaign on AFL projects unless the league sacked Mr McBurney, who was the last commissioner of the now abolished Australian Building and Construction Commission.

“The people who want to be critical of me for going after McBurney over what he’s done, as far as I’m concerned, they can all get f..ked,” he said.

“They don’t pay my wages. The only people I give a f..k about, of what they think about me, are the people who pay my wages.

“They are my bosses. I answer to them. I don’t answer to the ALP. I don’t answer to the f..king Liberal Party. I don’t answer to anybody else. I only answer to CFMEU f..king members that pay my wages. Nobody else.”

Mr Setka, who is due to finish as the union’s state secretary in January, said the campaign against the AFL would not fade away when he retired, as it would be backed by his current assistant secretary and likely successor Derek Christopher.

“I’m still sticking to my retirement plan but if people think that when I’m gone this is all going to stop, they’re in for a rude shock, let me tell you,” he said.

“Like we say, ‘God forgives, the CFMEU doesn’t.’ We have got the momentum, and when you have momentum, it’s very hard to stop. No-one’s going to forget this. We might one day forget McBurney’s f..king name but he’s never going to forget us.”