Unionist Bob Carnegie cleared of picket line charge Unionist Bob Carnegie outside the Federal Magistrates court in February, when he was cheered on by union members. Pictures: Kay Dibben Source: The Courier-Mail A JUDGE has dismissed charges against a unionist accused of defying a ban on him picketing. Judge Michael Burnett took less than five minutes to dismiss the charges against former Maritime Union Australia official Bob Carnegie in the Federal Circuit Court in Brisbane. Mr Carnegie hugged his lawyers, and construction workers inside the court cheered after the decision was handed down. He'd been facing a hefty fine and possible jail time if he had been found guilty of breaching a September 2012 court order prohibiting him from protesting at a Brisbane construction site. Lend Lease subsidiary Abigroup brought the proceedings after a private investigator filmed Carnegie taking part in industrial action at the children's hospital construction site at South Brisbane last year. Delivering his brief judgment, Judge Burnett said: "I'm not satisfied that the order itself is a proper order. I dismiss the application. Outside the court, construction workers cheered as Mr Carnegie pumped his fist in the air. He thanked the workers for their support and warned there would be more battles ahead. "But as long as we stick together, as long as we believe in ourselves, as long as we stand by our organisations, we'll get through any problems that we have to face," he told the crowd. Mr Carnegie told reporters he had been touched by the turnout. He said he would continue to fight a civil case brought by Abigroup against him, despite the financial and emotional costs to him and his wife. "It's cost a lot but whatever it's cost, my dear departed dad once told me: 'You can't buy the cost of principles'," he said.