Tolerance. Politicians and unionists lined up in recent days to declare their lack of tolerance for bad behaviour in the construction industry and its dominant union, the CFMEU.

Faced with a devastating and growing stream of revelations from a joint investigation by The Age, The Australian Financial Review and 60 Minutes about the rotten culture at the CFMEU, they had little choice.

Unfortunately for the nation, its construction workers and the broader public, tolerance is exactly what Labor and the broader union movement has granted the CFMEU for years.

Alongside tolerance there has been indulgence, hubris, gratitude (for massive donations) and a lack of political will.

The evidence of the union’s true condition was readily available and, finally, could not be ignored thanks to the remarkable reporting by Nick McKenzie, Ben Schneiders and David Marin-Guzman.

In just one example, in June, The Age reported on a Federal Court judge putting the tally of the CFMEU’s proven or admitted contraventions of the Fair Work Act since 2010 at 170 across no fewer than 50 proceedings.

How’s that for plain sight?

Or how about the union’s official hoodies featuring the words “scab hunter” accompanied by a man with a shotgun? They’re for sale on the CFMEU’s website and can be seen on publicly funded........

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