John Setka reveals details of lift incident with Anthony Albanese that left PM ‘trembling’

Disgraced CFMEU heavyweight John Setka has shared details about a lift “incident” with Anthony Albanese that he believed left the Prime Minister “scared”.

Disgraced CFMEU heavyweight John Setka has revealed details of an “incident” with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese when the pair were in a lift together.

And while he refused to repeat what was said, he did say he believed Mr Albanese was “scared”.

Appearing on Channel 7’s Spotlight program on Sunday night, Setka was asked by journalist Sharnelle Vella about the last time he had spoken to Mr Albanese.

“It was an incident in a lift … but it wasn’t much of a conversation to be honest,” Setka said.

He was then asked what happened.

“That’s probably for another time, but I haven’t got much time for Anthony Albanese to be quite honest,” he said.

Setka conceded there was a “very brief conversation” but said “I never said anything intimidating to him”.

Ms Vella pushed the subject saying “you’re not going to say what you said to the prime minister in the lift, but tell me, what was his reaction to what you said? Did he have a physical reaction to what you said?”

John Setka has revealed he last spoke to Anthony Albanese in a lift in an incident that left the PM “trembling”. Picture: AAP

Setka again denied he said anything “bad” but that Mr Albanese “was scared”.

“When someone starts trembling you know they’re scared,” said Setka.

“I hadn’t even said a word.”

Ms Vella said Channel 7 had asked the prime minister to confirm whether the incident was “all true”.

“He declined to answer our question,” she said.

Setka was also asked about claims footage of a late night visit to a union official’s house that cost him his job was part of a personal, rather than union dispute.

Setka resigned after he was caught on grainy CCTV footage leaving a suitcase at the front door of the home of another union official with a message that labelled him a “dog”.

The footage, captured on a home security camera, led to his resignation last month and ultimately the collapse of the CFMEU, with the union put into administration on Friday.

Setka, 59, has spoken for the first time about his fall from grace, and claimed that Labor powerbroker Tony Burke “outplayed” him when he was negotiating his departure.

“I wrote Leo the Dog on his suitcase, and I dropped it off in his driveway,” Setka said in the interview with Channel 7’s Spotlight.

“If that’s intimidating, I think people maybe ought to drink a cup of concrete and harden up a little bit. Really? I mean, that was his suitcase, and I returned his suitcase.

“I have never ever gone to people’s houses. I have never ever had a history of going to people’s family homes or intimidating them ever.”

Workplace Minister Tony Burke and former CFMEU Victorian boss John Setka. Picture: NewsWire

The suitcase was left at the door of CFMEU assistant national secretary Leo Skourdoumbis, who is part of the union’s manufacturing division.

The pair were previously close and it’s claimed that they had a personal falling out not related to their work in the union.

That footage made Setka’s role untenable and he quit the union just after 6pm on July 12.

The resignation followed discussions with Mr Burke, who has now been promoted to Home Affairs Minister, and Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus.

Setka had been a controversial, powerful and militant union boss for 12 years.

He said he quit to prevent the union from being put into administration in a deal with Mr Burke and Ms McManus.

John Setka. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

“The truth is there was a deal struck. I offered myself when I heard that there could be an administrator appointed,” he said.

“I said, you know what, I’ll go, I will pull the pin today because my job is to protect the union and its members.

“That’s my job and I’ll go today. But they leave the union alone. My job is to protect the union. So, I said, ‘I’ll leave today, but they don’t bring administrators in’.”

The Federal Labor Government passed new laws last week to allow the CFMEU to be put into administration.

“At 20 to six the call came through, yes, there’s a deal,” Setka said.

“Now, when you do a deal with the government, you would expect them to honour it.”

When asked about the change in policy, Setka replied: “Well look, maybe I did get outplayed.”

Emma Walters at Melbourne Magistrates Court. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Nicki Connolly

Setka was a powerful force in the Victorian construction industry, inking deals that saw “stop and go” sign workers earning $206,000 a year on Big Build projects in Victoria.

However, the union was accused of being infiltrated by bikie gangs and claims of kickbacks being paid to union officials, which have been denied.

Setka was also convicted in 2019 of harassing his wife Emma Walters, who was later charged herself with an alleged plot to kill him.

Ms Walters was found guilty of making a threat to kill and fined $1500 without conviction in December last year.

Setka had been due to retire this year and had been making headlines, including a threat to disrupt the AFL’s planned build of a new football stadium in Tasmania.

He had demanded the league sack umpire’s boss Steve McBurney because he had previously been head of a union watchdog.

Originally published as John Setka reveals details of lift incident with Anthony Albanese that left PM ‘trembling’