Axed CFMEU official charged over road rage attack

2 months ago 17

A former CFMEU senior official suspected of corruption has been charged over an alleged road rage attack on a stranger earlier this year.

On Thursday, police charged Derek Christopher, the union’s former Victorian assistant secretary and a John Setka ally, with assaulting a 37-year-old man in an Essendon school car park on September 6.

The victim was driving through the car park and passed Christopher, who was standing with a woman and child. Police allege that after the victim parked his car, he was confronted and assaulted by Christopher, sustaining minor injuries to his face.

Christopher, of Craigieburn, was interviewed by Taskforce Hawk detectives and charged with recklessly causing injury and common law assault, a police spokesperson said.

Taskforce Hawk was established by Victoria Police to target criminal behaviour in the construction industry after an investigation by this masthead exposed the infiltration of the union by organised crime figures.

Christopher was bailed and will face Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on June 26 next year. Police said the two men were not known to each other.

“Detectives are also appealing for anyone who may have witnessed the incident, and who may have dash-cam or mobile phone footage, to come forward and speak to police,” a police spokesperson said.

Christopher was sacked from the union in 2024 after this masthead revealed the influx of bikies and gangland bosses into the industry. The union’s government-appointed administrator, Mark Irving, KC, axed Christopher last year when he pushed out nearly 300 of the CFMEU’s leaders.

He was once next in line to lead the union’s Victoria branch, but corporate records reveal that since being sacked, Christopher started Atlas Consulting and Mediation in late May.

He remains the target of a long-running police investigation into suspicions he may have received $200,000 in corrupt benefits from building companies in the form of free renovations. These allegations have not been proven in court.

Christopher’s Keilor home was raided by more than a dozen police in 2019 over these allegations, and police seized computers, mobile phones and paperwork. At the time, Setka defended Christopher and alleged police had used excessive force during the raid.

Irving in November said he was considering permanently expelling Christopher and other disgraced ex-officials through a formal disciplinary process in accordance with union rules. This would involve a charge being laid by the union’s head of legal and integrity before the case being heard by an independent decision maker.

Irving has already taken this action against ousted Queensland bosses Michael Ravbar and Jade Ingham, he revealed while appearing before a Queensland commission of inquiry into construction industry misconduct.

During the inquiry, he said he was considering taking such steps against Setka, Christopher and the union’s former NSW leaders Darren and Michael Greenfield. The Greenfields have since been found guilty of corruption.

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