The administrator of the scandal-plagued CFMEU has warned that corruption and coercion in the union ranks is worse than has been reported and has vowed to relentlessly pursue any company boss who has bribed a union official or contributed to the culture of fear and intimidation in the nation’s construction sector.

In his first interview since being appointed last month, senior barrister Mark Irving, KC, told AFR Weekend and 60 Minutes that the “monumental” and “massive” task of tackling the infiltration of bikie and underworld figures into the union and broader building sector was “going to be the hardest job of my life by a long shot”.