SHOW SETKA THE DOOR
Union boss has to go over Batty comments, says Marles
JOHN Setka’s attack against champion of domestic violence Rosie Batty should result in his expulsion from the Labor Party, says deputy Labor leader Richard Marles.
The CFMMEU union boss has been facing calls to quit amid claims he criticised the prominent anti-domestic violence advocate.
Mr Setka said suggestions he “denigrated” Batty were “fabricated” but conceded he told a union meeting that “laws had changed” following Victoria’s royal commission into family violence.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese has written to ALP national secretary Noah Carroll setting out his reasons for wanting Mr Setka expelled by the party’s national executive on July 15.
The executive was due to vote this Friday on Mr Albanese’s effort to get rid of Mr Setka, who was last week put on a good behaviour bond and ordered to pay $1000 to charity after pleading guilty to using a carriage service to harass his wife.
However, Mr Setka wrote to the Labor Party executive requesting more time to present his case, giving him another 10 days’ reprieve. Mr Setka, in a letter to Mr Carroll, said the process was “completely unclear” and he could not respond to Mr Albanese’s “unclear allegations”.
Mr Marles said the ALP was clear that Mr Setka had to go.
“We have made it clear, put aside his court case, his other conduct and patterns of behaviour culminating in his comments in relation to Rosie Batty, we felt were inconsistent with the values of the Labor Party,” Mr Marles said.
“Anthony Albanese has made that very clear, obviously I completely support Anthony in that, and that will lead to a motion to expel John Setka from the Labor Party at the national executive meeting.
“In terms of making a statement where the Labor Party’s values stand, we couldn’t have been clearer, we couldn't have acted more firmly, and we couldn’t have done it quicker.
“Whatever action the CFMMEU takes is a matter for them.”
Mr Marles said the harm to the ALP had been caused by the cumulative effect of Mr Setka’s conduct over the past few years, citing a number of expletive-laden outbursts and public attacks by the controversial unionist.
The attack against Ms Batty was the final straw.
“Rosie Batty has been a champion against domestic violence in our community,” Mr Marles said.
“We completely support her and the sort of comments that John Setka has made and really a pattern of behaviour leading up to those comments are just inconsistent with what the values of the Labor Party are.
“It’s in that context that Anthony Albanese made the decision that he made and I completely support him in that and that will lead to what transpires at the national executive meeting of the ALP.”