Unionist John Setka charged over incident at home

Union boss John Setka has asked for privacy as Victoria Police said a 54-year-old man had been arrested and charged.

CFMMEU Victoria Secretary John Setka. Picture: AAP

Trade union boss John Setka has asked for privacy for his family as Victoria Police said a 54-year-old man had been arrested and charged with a court order ­offence and bailed to appear in Melbourne Magistrates Court.

The man will appear in court on January 9, according to a police statement.

The Herald Sun reported that Mr Setka had been charged after a Boxing Day incident involving wife Emma Walters at the family home.

Mr Setka is the Victorian head of the powerful Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union.

Mr Setka’s statement, issued via Twitter last night, was titled “Statement in relation to media report”.

“For well over 30 years now I have dedicated my life to the health and wellbeing of construction workers and their families,” he wrote.

“On more occasions than I care to remember, my passion and bluntness has landed me in the headlines and not always for the right reasons.

“Over the last three years my wife Emma and my children David, Kate and Johnny have ­suffered immensely from the ­ongoing political and ideological ­attacks on myself as a union ­leader. This has been an ­extremely enormous strain on our family unit and it has taken its toll on each of us as ­individuals.

“I ask that while family members are seeking to recover from this tumultuous period in their personal lives that they are given the privacy to do so.”

Mr Setka’s wife, Ms Walters, is a lawyer.

The Herald Sun reported that Mr Setka was currently on ­extended personal leave from the union.

In October, Mr Setka sparked anger by posting the Martin ­Luther King Jr quote “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal” in an attack on the federal government’s building code.

In September he apologised for posting a picture of his children, with one child holding a sign saying, “Go get f..ked’’, with the caption: “Leave our dads alone and go catch the real criminals you cowards.”