The CFMEU’s construction division has racked up about $19 million in penalties over the past eight years for breaches of workplace laws – the latest just on Thursday – that judges say the union regards as “a cost of doing business”.

Prosecutions under the Fair Work Act conducted by the Australian Building and Construction Commission from 2016 through 2022, then the Fair Work Ombudsman, have also led to courts ordering CFMEU officials to pay fines out of their own pockets.