ALP ‘stitching up Setka’, union boss says

The Victorian ETU secretary has put heat on Anthony Albanese over moves to expel John Setka.

Troy Gray, the Victorian State Secretary of the ETU, with CFMEU Victorian State Secretary John Setka. Picture: Supplied

Victorian Electrical Trades Union secretary Troy Gray says the CFMEU’s senior leaders have told him John Setka did not criticise Rosie Batty at a national executive meeting, and accused sections of the ALP of trying to “stitch up” the construction union boss.

Mr Gray told The Australian the union’s national secretary Michael O’Connor, national construction division secretary, Dave Noonan and Western Australian secretary Mick Buchan had separately told him that Mr Setka did not criticise Ms Batty at the meeting.

Announcing his intention last week to have Mr Setka expelled from the ALP, Anthony Albanese said: “Rosie Batty is a great campaigner against family violence and the idea that she should be denigrated by someone like John Setka is completely un­acceptable to me as leader of the Australian Labor Party, and I don’t want him in our party.”

Mr Albanese said yesterday he spoke to CFMEU officials at the meeting who “I do have a relationship with” but Mr Gray called on the Labor leader to name them.

“Come out and say it, who are these people?’’ Mr Gray said. “I have spoken to half the national executive. They are disgusted. I have spoken to Michael O’Connor. He says John didn’t say it. I have spoken to Dave Noonan. He says John didn’t say it.

“I have spoken to Mick Buchan, (Maritime Union official) Christy Cain. They are all dismayed at this. It’s nothing more than a political stitch up.”

CFMEU construction division officials, including Mr O’Connor and Mr Noonan, are meeting in Canberra today.

The Victorian branch is calling on the national leadership to publicly back Mr Setka and appoint an investigator to determine who leaked Mr Setka’s comments about Ms Batty and documents detailing expletive-laden text messages sent by Mr Setka to a woman.

Hitting out at unions calling for Mr Setka to resign, the Victorian CFMEU said yesterday it would no longer recognise long-held membership coverage and demarcation lines with unions that had attacked the branch.

The Australian Workers Union is one of the unions calling on Mr Setka to resign and if the CFMEU branch acts on its threat there could be a revival of damaging membership turf wars on Melbourne construction projects.

Mr Gray criticised AWU national secretary Daniel Walton who publicly called on Sunday for Mr Setka to resign.

“This has got nothing to do with domestic violence, it’s get John Setka,’’ he said.

“Have a look at the people calling for his sacking. It’s the Right of the ALP. Some of the people I have never heard of. Who’s the national secretary of the AWU? Never heard of him. What’s his name? I mean, seriously, what’s he ever done?

“Some of it makes me laugh. Seriously, the AWU? John within six months could sign up half the membership of the AWU in Victoria without raising a sweat.’

“Some of these unions calling for John Setka’s resignation have got more skeletons in their closet than the Carlton cemetery. If it’s a union stacks on and that’s the rules of the game, then maybe watch this space.”