Men in black hoodies patrol the entrance of the Queensland government’s major project to run trains under Brisbane. As workers roll in, a man wearing a jumper with the CFMEU’s distinctive logo steps forward and snaps their image on his mobile phone.

A few hours later, a cement truck slowly approaches the site of the $6.3 billion Cross River Rail project, when a man – who has links to the militant union, the Federal Court was told this week – walks up to the driver’s window.