‘Stay out of it’: John Setka defies Anthony Albanese’s call to drop AFL threat

Victorian CFMEU leader John Setka defies calls to abandon his bitter dispute with the AFL, declaring the Prime Minister should ‘stay out of it’.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka.

Victorian CFMEU leader John Setka has defied calls from ­Anthony Albanese and Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke to abandon his bitter dispute with the AFL, vowing to ­proceed with a work-to-rule campaign to disrupt league projects.

Declaring the Prime Minister should “stay out of it”, Mr Setka dismissed the warning by Mr Burke that the union risked ­breaking the law, and insisted the union could ensure AFL projects were “f..ked” without risking ­prosecution.

“We know how the system works probably a bit better than Tony Burke does,” Mr Setka told The Australian on Thursday.

“The campaign’s not stopping one bit. We’re not going to have politicians tell us who we can go after and who we can’t. It’s none of their business.”

The Prime Minister said it was “common sense” for Mr Setka to abandon his campaign to oust former Australian Building and Construction Commission chief Stephen McBurney, as the AFL’s head of umpiring.

Mr Burke said that, although the government had abolished the ABCC because it was a “bad, politicised organisation”, the government did not support going after public servants who worked there.

He highlighted that the laws governing industrial action were unchanged and legal action was limited to specific bargaining periods – “not because you don’t like someone who is running ­umpires”.

He suggested Mr Setka’s work-to-rule threats could come under the definition of unprotected industrial action because they would be a ban. “Anyone making any threat to Australian sport, it’s not the way to win over the Australian people,” Mr Burke said.

When asked on Thursday about the IR crisis engulfing the nation’s biggest football code, Sports Minister Anika Wells was stopped from answering questions by one of her staffers.

Mr Setka dismissed the comments, saying he had the support of other construction unions in Victoria, including the Electrical Trades Union and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, and expected to win the backing of CFMEU branches across the country at a meeting of the union’s national executive next week.

“We’re not interested in winning the Australian people over,” Mr Setka said. “Our number one motivation is for our members. This is our ­members’ money that these zealots f..king took away from us, and we’re going to take away from him now. It’s got nothing to do with Tony Burke, nothing to do with Albanese.”

He rejected Mr Burke’s ­comments that action aimed at forcing out Mr McBurney would be unlawful. “We’re not taking any industrial action,” he said. “We don’t need to. We can just work the hours that are required for us to work and the job’s f..ked. We ­respect that (Mr Albanese and Mr Burke) are there to rule for all Australians but we’ve got an ­obligation to our members to square the ledger for what McBurney did. We are going to teach people a lesson, just like we’ve taught Labor politicians over the years.

“If you want to betray us, you’re going to pay a price. I just wish these politicians would just stay out of it. It’s none of their business, to be quite honest. This is between us and McBurney and the AFL.”

Mr Setka said CFMEU members worked a 56-hour week, including Saturdays, but often worked on rostered days off and Sundays to ensure major projects were finished ahead of schedule and under budget.

“What I’m saying is: that’s not mandatory, we don’t have to do that,” he said. “We will not go above and beyond and that’s their f..king problem. We have our rights within the law. We’re not slaves. They can’t force us to work longer hours.

“We’re not going to tell them what the reason is. Let them work it out. It’s one thing knowing and assuming, it’s another thing f..king proving it in a court of law. I mean, who’s going to take us to court over it.

“There will be no bans, no black bans, no strike action, no nothing. We’ll just work our ­normal hours. No-one can force us to work Sunday or an RDO.

“So if we don’t want to work it, we’re not going to f..king work it.

“And it’s not breaking the law, we just choose we’re not going to f..king do it because we choose to not go out of our way to help the AFL.

“And if someone asks why, (we would say) ‘well, it’s just our ­decision’. Maybe some of them really smart politicians ought to go and read a law book.”

Tasmanian Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff warned that jobs would be lost in his state due to Mr Setka’s threat of a work-to-rule on AFL projects including the Hobart stadium.

Mr Rockliff on Thursday ­demanded Labor “stand up to” the CFMEU boss or take the blame for job losses if the stadium project, proposed for Macquarie Point, was held up.

“You have to stand up to that Victorian unionist who wants to dud Tasmanians and Tasmanian jobs when it comes to the stadium,” Mr Rockliff told state parliament. “Anything else is utter weakness.”

Mr Rockliff challenged new Tasmanian Labor Opposition Leader Dean Winter to clearly condemn Mr Setka’s threat to the stadium, which must be delivered to strict timelines to ensure ­Tasmania retains the AFL’s 19th team licence.

“If he was true to standing up for Tasmania, where is the Leader of the Opposition when it comes to standing up against the CFMEU threatening jobs in Tasmania?” Mr Rockliff said.

“This is a jobs question. If I do not see a media release from the Leader of the Opposition condemning the union for their anti-Tasmania stance, there will be nothing but utter weakness on your (Mr Winter’s) behalf.”

Mr Winter dismissed the calls for him to intervene with Mr Setka.

“The biggest risk to this project is the Liberals’ terrible track record when it comes to delivering anything on time or budget,” the Labor leader said.

“The Premier should be ­focused on trying to get the ­planning and development approvals for his stadium through, as well as how he intends to fund the project. I’m sure that by then any disputes between the AFL and workers will be resolved.”