Taxpayers would have been on the hook for an extra $24 billion in construction costs under a state's now-scrapped industrial relations agreement, a report has found.
Former Queensland premier Steven Miles on Thursday apologised in the wake of the damning findings, conceding the policy had been exploited by the CFMEU and blown out construction costs.
The final report on Queensland's long-running commission of inquiry into the CFMEU is not due until December 3, 2027.
However Commissioner Stuart Wood released the interim findings late on Wednesday, issuing two urgent recommendations to overhaul the state's construction industry.
He said the matters could not wait until the final report's delivery, calling for a new building code and a dedicated regulator to enforce compliance.
His report also highlighted the cost of the now-abandoned Best Practice Industry Conditions agreements, widely known as BPICs, which set wages and conditions on government projects.
Commissioner Wood said the agreements had been exploited, leading to delays and consequent cost overruns which he conservatively estimated at over 20 per cent.
He said that equalled an increase of approximately $24 billion on the predicted state infrastructure spend over the next four years.
Commissioner Wood based the estimate on three troubled projects: the Cross River Rail, Centenary Bridge and Gold Coast Light Rail.
The release of the report led to the apology from former Labor premier Mr Miles who said his government "should have acted sooner".
Mr Miles said he was "taking responsibility" for BPICs which were introduced by Labor in 2018 under his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk.
The Liberal National government suspended the agreements as one of its first actions after winning the 2024 state election.
Mr Miles said BPICs would "never again be a policy of the Queensland Labor Party that I lead, or a government that I lead".
"It's clear from both the administration (of the CFMEU) that we put in place and the findings of the Commission of Inquiry that the door was left too far open," he told reporters.
"We should have acted sooner and done more."
Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie said the LNP government would consider the interim report's recommendations before taking aim at Mr Miles over BPICs, describing him as the architect of the "CFMEU tax".
"He had more power than anyone to act but instead defended it through to the dying days of his government and beyond,” he said on Thursday.
Commissioner Wood said he had heard "extensive and highly disturbing" evidence of misconduct by the CFMEU since the inquiry began public hearings on October 1, 2025.
He has heard from more than 80 witnesses detailing allegations of bullying, stand-over tactics, criminal infiltration and the union's capture of high levels of government.
Mr Miles said Labor had co-operated fully with the inquiry and former ministers would appear if called.
