The former secretary of the Victorian-Tasmanian division of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, and Energy Union (CFMEU), John Setka, has been referred to police after making two visits to construction sites.
Expelled from the Labor Party in 2019, Setka resigned from his union office in July this year following allegations of misconduct.
At the time, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “good” when told of the news and added, “John Setka has no legitimate place in the Labor movement.”
With no standing as a union official, he had no right to intrude on worksites and address union members as he did not have a right of entry permit.
But on Sept. 3, he gave a speech full of expletives to a rally at Footscray Hospital and accessed the taxpayer-funded Metro Tunnel project the next morning. Both sites are in Victoria.
The state government has also asked building giant Multiplex to explain how he was allowed access to the hospital project. The company said it did not authorise Setka’s appearance and was investigating how he got onto the site.
During his speech, Setka launched a tirade against the Albanese government and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU). State and federal governments and the trade union leadership are moving to reform the CFMEU following allegations of intimidation, corruption, and criminal links.
Setka claimed Labor had reneged on a deal in which he would resign to avoid the union being put into administration. The federal government has previously said this claim was false.
Last month, the federal government placed the union’s construction arm into administration, removed 270 union officers from what were mainly volunteer positions, and sacked 11 more from their staff roles.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said on Sept. 4 that she had been told his presence on the sites was unlawful. As a result, the director-general of the Transport Department, Kevin Devlin, had referred the matter to police for investigation.
She said Devlin had also reminded “Big Build” contractors of the government’s expectations. The so-called “Big Builds” are major road and rail projects now underway across Victoria.
“There is no place on Victorian Big Build worksites for John Setka,” Allan said. “He was stood down from the union as he should have, and there is no place for him on our worksites.
“In terms of who attends worksites, there are well-established processes here, and it is the government’s expectation that those building industry companies manage this process appropriately, which is clearly not what happened in these incidents over the last 24 hours.”
The Fair Work Ombudsman is also investigating whether there were any breaches of the Fair Work Act, which includes strict rules over site access.
A spokesperson for the CFMEU administrators said Setka had resigned and did not represent the union.
