Who rules Victoria?

This is not to be confused with the Apex Gang, which either is, was or wasn't a criminal association, according to Victorian Police.

Of course, the CFMEU isn't a criminal organisation either, or at least not a historically outstanding one.

ABC Factcheck informed us of this in 2019 when "debunking" then Federal AG Christian Porter's claim the union was "the most unlawful organisation in the history of Australia's industrial laws".

"While the CFMMEU has repeatedly and deliberately breached legislation governing industrial action and conduct in the workplace, chalking up more breaches and more fines than any other union in the past 25 years, historical records show that its unlawful behaviour is exceeded by that of other unions in earlier decades," the ABC helpfully pronounced.

The "Big Build" is certainly big bucks for the labour movement.

It creates a lucrative financial feedback loop of taxpayer money poured into (union-approved) projects, pumping up CFMEU and other union memberships and dues, which flows back to the ALP as affiliation fees or helps out in campaigning generally.

The skewing of the economy towards construction explains why it was deemed an essential lockdown industry.

At first this might seem odd, especially as nearly all the major government projects are well behind schedule, why worry about adding a few extra months or years?

Sending kids to school in their vital development years might be considered more important.

The most essential need, housing, is likely to become more available with Victoria being the only state to suffer a net loss in population during Covid, as people vote with their feet.

Construction, even with reduced numbers, was always a Covid risk. It brings together a large group of people into prolonged immediate contact.

What makes the industry a bigger risk is, as we saw from the ABC "rebuttal", that construction and construction unions tend to be a law unto themselves.