Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Minister for Employment) Share this | Hansard source

This week, the Federal Court found that the CFMEU and its officials had acted unlawfully during the Grocon blockade of 2012. Justice Tracey's judgement describes a most disturbing incident in which Victorian CFMEU secretary John Setka and three others shoved security firm manager Mr Smith into a Melbourne alleyway and proceeded to assault him both physically and verbally. The court's decision describes Setka's acts of violence: 'pinned him to the wall', 'hurled abuse at him', 'knocked his helmet from his head' and 'took turns to ram him into the wall'. When Mr Smith protested that he was being held against his will, Setka threatened that he would, 'Shut him up permanently.'

In a separate incident, Setka abused a Grocon worker. He punched the windscreen of the van he was driving, told him to remember his face because he would come after him and told him that he hoped he would die from cancer. The worker was actually suffering from cancer at the time. Workers who wanted to actually get to work had to be bussed in, given a special path in with the protection of police fencing and given special duties to hide from the verbal assaults hurled at them by the union protesters, calling them scabs, dogs, rats and worse, and hurling threats including, 'You will die. You're going to cop it. I'm going to kill your family.' When police attempted to escort workers on the site, union crowds blocked and punched their horses, egged on by John Setka, Sean Reardon and Craig Johnston. These are the acts of violence that unfolded in Melbourne in 2012. What have we heard from the Australian Labor Party and the Australian Greens in response? Absolutely nothing. Their silence tells us everything we need to know.