The CFMEU is raging about being routed by a government that had no option – after turning a blind eye for too long to known and suspected malfeasance.

While the issues within one of Australia’s most powerful unions need urgently addressing, fixing the conditions that keep women out of the industry looms as a much larger problem.

The Fair Work Commission’s general manager, Murray Furlong, is moving for the appointment of administrators into the construction division of the CFMEU, following a string of allegations.

Labor’s national executive will meet on Thursday to deal with requests to suspend the union’s affiliations in Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania.