Victorian supreme court dismisses Setka’s attempt to prevent his expulsion from the ALP

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

The controversial union boss John Setka’s legal fight against his expulsion from the Australian Labor party has been thrown out of court.

On Tuesday the Victorian supreme court justice Peter Riordan ruled it was not within the court’s jurisdiction to grant the secretary of Victoria’s construction union an injunction to prevent a push to expel him initiated by federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese.

At a doorstop in Sydney, Albanese said that Setka had “brought the Labor party into disrepute over a long period of time”, citing his convictions for breaching a family violence intervention order and harassment in addition to allegations that he made comments denigrating the work of anti-violence campaigner Rosie Batty which first spurred the push. Setka denies making the comments about Batty.

Guardian Australia understands the ALP national executive will wait to see if the secretary of Victoria’s Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union appeals the decision before pushing ahead with the expulsion.

Albanese said the executive will meet “at an appropriate time” to discuss Setka’s expulsion and noted although an appeal is possible “there is not automatic right to appeal”.

“I will continue to pursue Mr Setka’s expulsion from the Labor party – I note he continues to remain suspended,” he said.

The attorney general Christian Porter accused Albanese of the “greatest level of hypocrisy imaginable” for pushing Setka out of Labor while opposing a bill to give courts the power to disqualify union officials.

Setka’s record and months of bad publicity have helped the Coalition push for the passage of its new union penalty bill, which needs only two votes from Centre Alliance to pass after a Senate inquiry concludes in October.

Riordan ruled the court “does not interfere with internal decisions of voluntary unincorporated associations unless it is protecting or enforcing a contractual or other right recognised in law or equity”.

“The plaintiff has not established any such underlying right.”

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Setka was ordered to pay costs. He was not in court for the ruling.

Riordan rejected the argument that enforcing the rules of political parties was an exception to the rule that courts should not meddle in internal disputes of voluntary unincorporated associations.

If not appealed, the decision is likely to limit access to courts for members and candidates wishing to dispute political parties’ interpretation of their rules.

However, the judge said if he were wrong and the court did have jurisdiction, he would have sided with Setka in finding that the powers of the ALP to expel a member are subject to compliance with preconditions set out in the Victorian branch rules.

Albanese’s push started after reports Setka criticised family violence campaigner Rosie Batty for eroding men’s rights – an allegation the union leader denies.

In June, Setka also pleaded guilty to charges of breaching a court order.

His wife Emma Walters outed herself as the victim of a series of abusive text messages from her husband.

The Australian reported further allegations over the weekend.

“If any of these more recent allegations or rumours were true, I would have been charged, but the police prosecution of me was completed,” Setka said in a statement on Monday.

The move to expel Setka from Labor has sparked division within the union movement, with Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus and many affiliated unions calling on him to resign while a few allies and much of the grassroots of his own branch backed him to stay.

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, continued to back Albanese’s position to expel Setka, but would not be drawn further on Tuesday.

“There could be an appeal to that decision so I’m loathe to offer a commentary beyond simply saying that they are party matters,” he told reporters at parliament.

“You know my position, I support Anthony Albanese’s position on this matter. As for who leads the CMFEU, again I make the point very clearly that is entirely a matter for members of that union.”

• Australian Associated Press contributed to this story.