The removal of Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) Queensland president Dave Hanna would give some union officials "a chance to be legit", a senior colleague told Mr Hanna in a secretly recorded conversation.

Police made the recording of a meeting at Brisbane Airport between Mr Hanna and CFMEU national assistant secretary Leo Skourdoumbis in July, the month prior to Mr Hanna's resignation from the union.

It was tendered as evidence in the trade union royal commission this week and a full transcript released overnight.

In the recording, Mr Hanna described his house south of Brisbane being raided by about 20 police officers with "search warrant for documentation, all my finances and all that sort of shit".

Mr Hanna told Mr Skourdoumbis police had also been "to the builder's place" but he had no concerns about work done by contractors on his property, built in 2013.

"They can f***ing dig all they like, they're not going to find anything," Mr Hanna said on the tape.

The royal commission heard evidence last week Mr Hanna had benefited from about $100,000 of free work on the house and that tradesmen had billed work to developer Mirvac.

The conversation suggests Mr Hanna was in a power struggle with the union's Queensland secretary Michael Ravbar following the merger in late 2013 of the militant Builders Labourers Federation (BLF), where Mr Hanna was secretary, and the CFMEU.

Discussing the fall-out from the merger, Mr Skourdoumbis told Mr Hanna he was supportive of him but many of the 20 or so union employees he had interviewed were not.

"I'm sure people would become sick of Ravbar but I've got to say that the particularly former BL guys see it as a clean break," Mr Skourdoumbis said.

"Not quite a breath of fresh air but a clean break, a chance to be legit."

Mr Hanna then asked: "So ... you got the view that they think that I should move on?"

Mr Skourdoumbis replied: "If I had to answer that in a yes or no, I'd say yes."

Commission to investigate whether documents were destroyed

Mr Ravbar had prompted an investigation of Mr Hanna by Mr Skourdoumbis in relation to fundraising Mr Hanna had conducted to help a union official obtain IVF treatment.

But Mr Skourdoumbis told Mr Hanna that Mr Ravbar "has his own skeletons", to which Mr Hanna responded: "F***ing oath".

Mr Hanna yesterday told the royal commission Mr Ravbar had ordered the destruction of seven tonnes of CFMEU paperwork after the union was served a notice to produce documents in April 2014 — echoing an accusation heard on the surveillance recording.

The commission also heard Mr Hanna told a CFMEU bookkeeper to "get rid of" an invoice for the truck used to dispose of the material.

The royal commission is probing whether Mr Hanna fraudulently benefited from work on his house being paid for by Mirvac.

It is also examining whether criminal offences were committed when documents it had demanded were destroyed, a crime attracting a five year jail term.

Mr Ravbar is expected to give evidence later this week.