NEW LEADER FAILED TO HIT THE TARGET

ANTHONY Albanese’s motivation was right but his execution was wrong as he tried to bring down one of the union movement’s toughest characters this week.

The Labor leader should have been better prepared to take on John Setka, the union hard man from central casting.

Setka is a creature of the biggest, baddest division of Australia’s construction union.

His father was one of the few survivors of the Westgate Bridge collapse in 1970, Australia’s worst industrial accident. He became an organiser in the BLF, before it was deregistered in the 1980s. Setka then rose through the ranks of the CFMEU in the 90s and now carries more numbers, dollars, loyalty and muscle than most union leaders could dream of.

Along the way, he’s earned quite a rap sheet and a reputation.

But it’s not his behaviour on work sites that’s seen both the Labor leader and the ACTU National Secretary come after him this week. It’s his attitude to domestic violence.

This has become a crucial issue for an increasingly feminised union movement. There are now nearly twice as many nurses and midwives in the broader union movement than construction and maritime workers.

Setka has been charged with using a carriage service to harass an unnamed woman. It is alleged he sent 45 text messages in one night, including calling the woman a “weak f----n piece of s--t”. He has told the court he intends to plead guilty.

He’s separately accused of telling a meeting of the CFMMEU National Executive last week that men have “fewer rights” thanks to the work of domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty. To this, he pleads not guilty. In fact he vehemently denies it.

Setka and his wife Emma Walters fronted a press conference on Wednesday to acknowledge they have both said and done things they’re not proud of.

“We are working very hard together to rebuild our marriage,” Walters said.

Both insist that for all his faults, Setka has never denigrated the work of Rosie Batty.

Others who were at the meeting have publicly backed Setka on that. Even the ACTU boss Sally McManus is satisfied this claim is off the mark.

“He never said anything to denigrate Rosie Batty,” she said. “It’s just been reported in a way that’s not correct.”

Yet that is the key reason Albanese has cited for his demand Setka be expelled from the ALP.

The Labor leader says he’s spoken to others who were there, but can’t name sources and the evidence for the claim against Setka now looks thin.

That’s not to say he shouldn’t be expelled from the ALP. He presumably will be when the party’s National Executive meets on July 5 to consider the matter.

To defy Albanese, in his first test of authority, would be a humiliation for the new leader.

Albanese and the Labor Party can do little, however, about John Setka’s position at the CFMMEU.

He is determined to stay. The members want him to stay. Solidarity forever.

Others, however, are not. Sally McManus has been joined by the shoppies’ union, United Voice, the Australian Services Union and the CPSU in demanding he step down.

They argue Setka is damaging their broader union movement. They’re right.