Murray Watt said he had instructed his department to have legislation ready to table in parliament as soon as it resumed if the CFMEU tried to contest administration following allegations of being linked to bikies and organised crime.
"The very first briefing that I received in this new role, within hours of being sworn in, focused on the legislation, where it was at, what further decisions needed to be made to finalise it," he told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
Murray Watt was sworn in as workplace relations minister on Monday. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
The CFMEU has appointed former anti-corruption tsar Geoffrey Watson to investigate the allegations.
While Senator Watt said he had respect for Mr Watson as "a very eminent lawyer", the issues within the union's construction division had gone further than what it could tackle on its own.
Senator Watt said he had been briefed repeatedly since being sworn in on Monday and had given the department "further instructions" to ensure the government was ready to respond to any fight.Â
"We will support any application that's made by the general manager of the Fair Work Commission to put some of these branches into administration," he said.
"If that application is opposed and there's barriers, if it's not resolved by the time parliament returns, then we will remove those barriers by government legislation."
Parliament returns on August 12.
Senator Watt said the administration would not only be a good thing for the union, but for its members with the government not trusting the CFMEU to tidy its own house.
"This union's activity by too many of its officials has gone too far. It's got to stop and frankly, I don't think the union can be relied on to reform itself without external intervention," he said.
"That's why we want that administration to proceed and we're working hard on that now."
