John Setka says Anthony Albanese trashing Labor Party, union movement
John Setka says he’s quit Labor because he can’t watch Anthony Albanese ‘trash traditional values’.
John Setka says his decision to resign from the ALP is a “personal decision” motivated by his inability to “watch Anthony Albanese trash the traditional values of the Labor Party and the union movement.”
Unleashing on the new ALP leader, the Victorian secretary of the militant CFMEU said that the “core values on which the Labor Party was built have been totally eroded under Mr Albanese’s leadership and I cannot support him as a member of the ALP any longer.”
In a pugnacious statement explaining his resignation from the ALP, Mr Setka said the decisive factor was Mr Albanese’s support for the Morrison government’s free trade deals with Indonesia, Hong Kong and Peru.
Mobile users view pdf here
“This is a complete betrayal of working Australians who will lose jobs to foreign workers as a result,” Mr Setka said. “It was the last straw for me and a sign of just how far out of touch Mr Albanese is with our fundamental principles.”
The besieged union leader also accused Mr Albanese of failing to fight the government over it’s proposed Ensuring Integrity Bill which he said would leave Australia with the most extreme workplace laws in the world and restrict workers rights.
“Mr Albanese claims I have brought the ALP into disrepute. Nothing has hurt the Labor Party’s reputation like Mr Albanese’s leadership over the past 5 months.”
He claimed that the push to remove him from the Labor Party was based on a lie — that he had denigrated domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty.
Mr Setka said he could “no longer ignore the effect this is having on my family.”
Mr Setka made clear he would stay on in his role at the CFMEU and “keep fighting to deliver the best wages, conditions and safety standards for construction workers and their families.”
Earlier, Mr Albanese announced that Mr Setka had withdrawn his appeal.
“This is something that I think is important. It’s been important that we demonstrate Labor’s values as a party are greater than any individual and that we’re prepared to stand up for those values,” the Opposition Leader said.
“I thought over a long period of time through his actions he demonstrated values that were not consistent with the values which the Australian Labor Party holds dear. One of those values is respect for women. The fact that he’d been convicted of breaching a family violence order and the fact he was also convicted and pleaded guilty to harassment indicates that’s the case.
“There’s also been a range of activities which are in breach of both the Victorian rules of the ALP and the values of the Australian Labor Party.”
‘Not expelled, he resigned’
The lawyer acting for Mr Setka issued a statement saying that his client had not been expelled from the ALP, and that the union boss had “made the decision to resign”.
Andrew George, the Director of Doogue + George, said the National Executive meeting to consider the charges brought by Opposition legal affairs spokesman Mark Dreyfus under the Victorian Rules was to take place this Friday on October 25.
“Any decision as to penalty, if the charges were proven would be a matter for that meeting,” Mr George said.
“Mr. Setka wanted a short adjournment of the meeting as he is Adelaide at a National conference this Friday, but the National Executive refused.
“Given that decision it is our view that the ALP was not intending to provide him with procedural fairness.
“We can confirm that after discussions with lawyers for the ALP there has been an agreement that Mr. Setka will withdraw his application to the Court of Appeal.
“It was our advice that once the ALP agreed to deal with Mr. Setka under the Victorian Rules then pursuing the appeal was inappropriate.
“This is because the ALP was now acting under the Victorian Rules as Mr. Setka has always argued they should.”
Bosses demand CFMEU clause ban
Employers say the CFMEU administrator’s ‘business as usual’ approach to bargaining will not address the union’s ‘disgraceful’ illegal tactics.
Call to defund ‘cohesion’ group
One of Australia’s most influential Muslim community groups, the Lebanese Muslim Association, was one of many organisations listed to hold a rally for Palestine and Lebanon alongside extremist organisation Hizb ut-Tahrir.