The prime minister has been accused of turning on trade unionists as he and state premiers back moves to overhaul the powerful CFMEU.
Control of the construction union, which has been plagued by allegations of criminal and corrupt behaviour, will be handed to an independent administrator if government-supported court applications are approved.
Following Fair Work Commission moves on Friday, the NSW government made its own application to the Federal Court on Monday for a barrister to take over the union's state branch.
Laws will also be introduced to the NSW parliament during the week to remove any doubt about the validity of veteran Victorian barrister Mark Irving's powers.
The union insists it has done "everything possible" to co-operate with authorities and could challenge the court applications.
A senior official on Monday attacked Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over his "politically moronic move" to overhaul the powerful workers' body.
"The Albanese government is collaborating with the big employer groups and the right-wing press to take down the CFMEU," Queensland state secretary Michael Ravbar said.
"Many CFMEU members are now politically homeless and the thread of kinship with the Labor Party has been forever broken."
The powerful union has been in a fight for survival since several officials were accused of taking kickbacks, being linked to organised crime and employing standover tactics on worksites in a series of Nine newspaper reports.
The Victorian branch also lost long-standing secretary John Setka, who quit his post citing "relentless" news stories centred on him.
Due to the NSW branch's make-up, legal and legislative action is required from both federal and state governments to ensure an administrator can take full control.
The changes would grant the administrator the powers of the state secretary and allow them to suspend office holders without remuneration.
Premier Chris Minns said his government and NSW Labor had taken strong and necessary action to clean up the construction division of the CFMEU.
"(We're) ensuring that there's a new person in charge of running that union so there's integrity and the public can have confidence that there's not widespread corruption in construction in the state," he said.
NSW Labor has cut ties with the union while Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has vowed to tear the "rotten culture ... out by its roots".
But Ms Allan's rhetoric rang hollow after it emerged a state-backed review into the CFMEU scandal, led by former public servant Greg Wilson, did not have an email address for whistleblowers for 11 days.
The terms of reference for the review, released on July 20, promised to "provide an accessible and supportive forum for participants to participate in your inquiry".
It wasn't until Friday that the website for the formal review was updated to include an email address for inquiries but contributors initially received a bounceback message as the domain did not exist.
The premier refused to be drawn when asked what the point of the review was if people were unable to give evidence.
"My advice is that those technical matters have been dealt with," she said.
Business groups have welcomed efforts to overhaul the union while again calling for a royal commission to recommend lasting change.
