Construction union boss a chest-beating gorilla in Mark Knight toon

The power of construction union* heavyweight John Setka was on display this week when the Victorian secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) flexed his muscles.

Mr Setka was upset with head of AFL umpiring*, Stephen McBurney, who in a previous life had been a construction industry regulator* and had imposed fines on the CFMEU. The union boss now demanded that the AFL should sack McBurney or else.

If the AFL doesn’t do any such thing, Mr Setka said the CFMEU would delay AFL building projects like the new Tassie Devils stadium in Tasmania and the Adelaide Crows’ new headquarters.

Wow, I thought. That’s power.

John Setka is one of those tough union officials straight out of central casting*.

He’s a big bloke with tattoos, a mullet and a working man’s turn of phrase. And he’s had his run-ins with officialdom* and the law. He rules the Victorian construction industry with an iron fist* and some say Victoria has such a huge debt is because the bill for lots of its government infrastructure* projects have blown out due to the CFMEU’s demands for workers’ wages.

His members love him, of course, and I have to admit that I love to draw him!

How do I caricature* this powerful union official?

When I think of John Setka standing astride the Victorian building industry, I think of King Kong standing atop a skyscraper*, beating his chest and roaring that he is the king of this jungle. Not a bad metaphor*and one I think the union secretary might even like.

And because his gripe* is with the AFL and its umpiring chief, the building he would be standing on would be the home of football, the MCG.

I wanted to give an idea of scale, which would illustrate the political power that Setka has, so to do this I decided to add someone else in the picture. So I sketched in umpiring chief McBurney in the grasp of one of John Setka’s massive hands, just like in the King Kong movies, where the giant gorilla takes hold of some poor femme fatale*. This composition* is to give the reader an impression of the size of Mr Setka’s power, which judging by the threat he has made to the AFL, is considerable.

Humour is an important ingredient in political cartoons.

In this cartoon, I thought the idea of the diminutive* umpire McBurney blowing his whistle and awarding a 50m penalty against the humungous* Setka for disputing* an umpiring decision, all while in the clutches of Setka’s huge paw, might be a nice ridiculous touch.

Indeed, in real life when we see AFL umpires standing in front of huge footy players blowing their whistles and admonishing* the player for a foul, it is clear that despite the size difference, the umpire has the power. In my cartoon, the exchange questions who has the power here, the authority or the union?

POLL

GLOSSARY

• construction union: an organised association of labourers including carpenters, masons and plumbers whose mission is to further the rights and protection of their group
• umpiring: refereeing, moderating, supervising, judging, overseeing
• regulator: person or organisation appointed by a government to regulate an industry or activity such as construction or banking
• central casting: a person whose appearance, behaviour, or nature seem to be typical or perfect for a particular role
• officialdom: people or groups in a position of authority
• iron fist: person, policy or approach that deals with people and situations in a very strict, even cruel way
• infrastructure: basic systems and services, everything from public buildings like hospitals and schools, to services like roads, tunnels and bridges
• caricature: drawing or description exaggerating someone’s appearance or behaviour in a humorous or critical way
• skyscraper: very tall building, high-rise
• metaphor: an imaginative way of describing something by referring to something else which is the same in a particular way
• gripe: complaint, objection, grievance
• femme fatale: a beautiful, mysterious woman
• composition: the way a piece of art or music is arranged
• diminutive: extremely small, tiny
• humungous: huge, extremely large, extraordinarily big
• disputing: disagreeing, not having the same idea about something
• admonishing: cautioning, scolding, chastising, reprimanding

EXTRA READING

Tassie storms into the AFL

Tough call on hard knocks in AFL

AFL captains answer big questions

QUICK QUIZ

1. Who is John Setka?
2. What was AFL head of officiating Steve McBurney’s job previously?
3. Some say Victoria has a huge state debt due for what reason?
4. What is Mr Setka demanding?
5. What action does he say the CFMEU will take if AFL meet his demands?

LISTEN TO THIS STORY

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. Humour analysis
After reading and analysing the Mark Knight cartoon in the Kids News explainer, complete the following analysis questions to help you get the full humour out of his drawing.

Mark Knight cartoon analysis:
What is the main issue Mark Knight is highlighting?

Who is portrayed in the cartoon?

How are they portrayed?

What is the humour in the drawing?

Who might agree with his viewpoint?

Who might disagree or possibly be offended by this viewpoint?

Do you think he makes a good point? Explain your answer.

Time: allow 25 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

2. Extension
Write a response to this cartoon from the viewpoint of one of the people or objects portrayed in the cartoon. Think, what would be their response to the speech bubble and satire from the cartoon.

Write or draw your response below.

Time: allow 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Visual Arts, Personal and Social, Critical and Creative Thinking

VCOP ACTIVITY
Stretch your sentence
Find a “who” in the cartoon – a person or an animal. Write it down.

Add three adjectives to describe them better.

Now add a verb to your list. What are they doing?

Add an adverb about how they are doing the action.

Using all the words listed, create one descriptive sentence.