John Setka forced out of ALP in victory for Anthony Albanese

Notorious Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka exit delivers a political victory for Anthony Albanese.

Victorian union leader John Setka outside the Stamford Grand in Glenelg on Wednesday, where he is attending a CFMEU conference. Picture: Morgan Sette

Notorious Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka has been forced out of the Labor Party, having dropped a legal appeal against Anthony ­Albanese’s move to have him ­expelled over his treatment of women.

The move sets the scene for a showdown at next year’s ALP ­national conference over the Opposition Leader’s support for free-trade agreements, which the disgraced construction union official claimed on Wednesday was his reason for resigning from the party.

Mr Setka’s lawyers notified the ALP legal team that he was withdrawing a legal appeal against being expelled, ahead of Friday’s meeting of the party’s national executive, which was poised to tear up his membership.

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The decision delivered a political victory for Mr Albanese, who had campaigned to remove the secretary of the Victorian branch of the Construction Forestry Maritime Mining and Energy Union since he became leader following Labor’s election defeat.

Mr Setka’s refusal to step down does nothing to help Labor’s bid to defeat the government’s Ensuring Integrity Bill, as Senate crossbencher Jacqui Lambie said she would back the bill unless Mr Setka also resigned from the CFMEU.

ACTU secretary Sally McManus last night maintained her call for Mr Setka to quit the CFMEU, saying his decision to stay on was giving the government “ammunition” to pass anti-union laws.

Mr Setka’s refusal to quit means the Victorian construction division of Australia’s most powerful Labor-affiliated, blue-collar union will be led by an expelled member of the ALP, although Mr Albanese signalled on Wednesday night he would still accept donations from the CFMEU.

“The CFMEU is affiliated to the Labor Party, and the CFMEU represents construction workers, people in mining, people in energy,” Mr Albanese told the ABC’s 7.30.

“I support unions having input into the Labor Party because what that does is make sure that we can keep in touch with what’s happening in workplaces. If you took the construction union out of the sector, what you would have is far greater accidents on sites.

“You would have real issues with occupational health and safety, but also with wages and conditions, with underpayment, with exploitation.”

Mr Setka, who had little prospect of winning his appeal, attempted to turn the tables against Mr Albanese on Wednesday by claiming that he had not been expelled. He said he resigned from the party because of Mr Albanese’s support for the government’s free-trade deals with Indonesia, Peru and Hong Kong, in a veiled threat to blow up the ALP national conference next year.

Mr Setka still has significant support among sections of the CFMEU, which wields considerable influence over the party. The CFMEU has sided with the ACTU over the free-trade deals, which unions have vowed to make a flashpoint on the floor of the national conference.

Ms McManus said controversy over Mr Setka was a “sideshow”. She criticised Labor’s “bad” free-trade decision, maintaining it was in breach of the party platform.

The calls for Mr Setka’s dismissal began in June when Mr Albanese moved to tear up his ALP membership following public outrage over offensive remarks Mr Setka allegedly made about anti-domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty.

He denied the comments. The powerful union boss is also the subject of a good behaviour bond after admitting to harassing his wife via text message.

“One of my first acts as leader of the Labor Party was to take action to suspend John Setka from ­membership of the Australian Labor Party,” Mr Albanese said on Wednesday.

“I did that because 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’s been convicted of breaching a family ­violence order and the fact that he was also convicted and pleaded guilty to harassment indicates that that’s the case.”

Mr Setka had secured a stay of execution after taking legal action against the right of the national executive to sack him, following its decision to suspend his party membership.

After the ALP refused Mr Setka’s bid to delay the national executive meeting, he withdrew his legal challenge. Mr Setka ­admitted to his past bad behaviour but then tried to politicise his ­removal form the ALP by claiming it was because he was opposed to Mr Albanese’s support for the FTAs.

He has defied calls from the ACTU to resign from the union.

“Mr Albanese claims I have brought the ALP into disrepute,” Mr Setka said on Wednesday.

“Notwithstanding my flaws, nothing has hurt the ALP’s reputation like Mr Albanese’s leadership over the past five months.

“My personal life has also been dragged into this muckraking. I ­acknowledge that I have made mistakes in my marriage — which I have answered to in the courts — but using my personal life for ­political means is an incredibly low blow. The Opposition Leader has waged a very public campaign to have me expelled from the party, based on false allegations motived by old-fashioned political payback.

“While they have taken a personal toll on me and my family, the dirty tricks directed at me are not the reason I have decided to hand in my party membership card.

“The reason is simple: I cannot continue to be a member of the Labor Party while Anthony Albanese is its leader.”

Labor insiders said Mr Setka had no prospect of winning a costly appeal and decided to “jump” before the national executive expelled him.

Mr Setka’s decision also came two days before the handing down of a Senate report into the Ensuring Integrity Bill.

Additional reporting: Greg Brown