The workplace watchdog has not filed a single new case against the CFMEU for 18 months and has dropped 30 per cent of the cases alleging construction union law-breaking it inherited after Labor’s election, even as builders raise concerns that CFMEU disruption is pushing up project costs.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has revealed it discontinued or partially discontinued 12 of the 41 cases transferred from the Australian Building and Construction Commission when the Albanese government scrapped the industry regulator in 2022.