Former CFMEU Chief John Setka Arrested, Charged with Harassment in Taskforce Hawk Investigation

Darwin, Australia: Former Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka has been arrested and charged following a joint state and federal police operation into alleged electronic harassment.

The controversial 61-year-old union figure was arrested on Wednesday morning at his Footscray home in Melbourne, where officers from the specialized anti-corruption unit, Taskforce Hawk, seized a mobile phone and an iPad.

Setka has been formally charged with seven counts of using a communications device to menace, harass, and offend. Police allege he sent a number of threatening, offensive, and abusive emails to a CFMEU administrator shortly after the administrator issued a production notice on October 27 and a follow-up letter the next day.

The charges come after Setka quit his role as the head of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime and Energy Union in Victoria in 2024. His resignation followed a major media investigation into alleged criminal links within the construction industry, including underworld figures and bikies allegedly acting as union delegates on major projects.

The union’s construction division, including its state branches, was placed into administration in mid-2024 amid allegations of serious misconduct, corruption, and violence—the very environment Taskforce Hawk was established to target.

Setka has been bailed to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court in January.