The royal commission into trade union corruption will examine whether a former union boss paid for work done by tradies on his luxury Brisbane home.
On opening hearings in Brisbane on Monday, counsel assisting Sarah McNaughton SC said the commission would look at allegations that work on David Hanna's home was billed to a commercial project by developer Mirvac.
The house at Cornubia, in Brisbane's south, was built between 2012 to 2014, while Mr Hanna was secretary of the Builders Labourers Federation (BLF) before becoming president of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) when the entities merged.
The house features four king-size bedrooms, four bathrooms, polished concrete flooring, walk-in wardrobes and pantries, a second butler's kitchen, a three-car garage and saltwater pool.
At the same time it was being built, Mirvac was working on a commercial precinct next to the Springfield Shopping Centre.
Information given to the commission indicates that while contracted to manage the second phase of the project for Mirvac, Matthew McAllum helped the Hannas by obtaining quotes for various trades and organising the work for their home.
The inquiry heard that the Hannas retained a builder to do some of the work but, with Mr McAllum's help, organised for some to be done by various tradespeople.
"One of the important matters to be investigated concerns whether, and if so to what extent, the Hannas paid for the work done by the tradespeople who worked on their home," Ms McNaughton said.
Questions had risen as to whether Mr McAllum had arranged for the cost of some of the work on the Hannas' home to be included in invoices issued to Mirvac by tradies working on the Springfield project, she said.
The commission will examine whether any benefits were received by Mr Hanna to induce, reward or to in some way influence him in relation to the union's affairs.
Mr Hanna and Mr McAllum are scheduled to give evidence this week at the inquiry before commissioner Dyson Heydon.
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