Union heavyweight John Setka has announced his retirement after a tumultuous period in the Victorian construction union's top job spanning more than 10 years.
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The longtime Construction, Forestry, Maritime and Energy Union boss told delegates on Thursday he would not nominate to run in elections later this year, a union spokesman confirmed.
Mr Setka has been at the helm of the Victoria and Tasmania CFMEU for more than a decade, during which time he has been involved in a string of workplace controversies and a public breakdown of his marriage to Emma Walters.
Despite cementing himself as a highly contentious figure in Australia's trade movement, he garnered a dedicated following and significant influence through his time in the role.
The union boss said on Thursday it was always his intention to retire as he approached turning 60 in 2024.
"I probably did upset a lot of people," Mr Setka told 3AW.
"But I have been accused of a lot of things that I've actually never done or even heard of."
The secretary said he was leaving the CFMEU in good stead and questioned why, if the union was so hated, so many people wanted to join it.
"It's a young person's game, to be quite honest," Mr Setka said.
"It takes a big toll on you, being the secretary of a union, you're under the gun all the time."
Mr Setka became branch secretary in 2012 after climbing through the ranks, signalling the start of several years' worth of involvement in legal disputes.
He made headlines when Tony Abbott called him a thug the same year and later failed in a defamation lawsuit against the then-opposition leader.
His union leadership came into question in 2019 after then opposition leader Anthony Albanese moved to expel him from the Labor Party over accusations he told colleagues anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty's advocacy had led to men having fewer rights.
Mr Setka rejected the allegations.
He fought his expulsion from the party in court but it ultimately went through in October 2019, months after he was convicted of harassing his now estranged wife.
In 2019, the Australian Federal Police dropped an investigation into Mr Setka over allegations he threatened senators, including Jacqui Lambie.
In November that year he was cleared of being in contempt of parliament over the allegations.
The Federal Court in 2020 found Mr Setka did not breach rules when he "poached" more than 200 members from a rival branch of the CFMMEU but the union heavyweight later lost an appeal against the decision.
Three judges ordered Mr Setka to refrain from encouraging or inducing members to transfer to his construction branch.
Melbourne's CFMEU headquarters was the site of repeated protests during the COVID-19 pandemic, with demonstrators throwing bottles at Mr Setka and smashing the office door down.
After one of the protests in 2021, Mr Setka said demonstrators were not all CFMEU members and blamed "neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists" for hijacking the event.
Ms Walters was in December 2023 found guilty of threatening to kill Mr Setka in "out of the blue" comments to a private investigator.
Senator Lambie on Thursday called for textile, footwear and clothing workers to be able to hold a secret ballot to vote to leave the CFMEU, saying they deserved "freedom" from Mr Setka.
A spokeswoman for the senator said she would keep fighting for the workers.
Australian Associated Press
