The dispute had come at the expense of a four-month picket line and a total of $144,000 in fines against the union and a pending lawsuit for damages under Section 45D of the Trade Practices Act. The Mudginberri dispute took 27 court cases and two years of litigation. Although the NFF and MATFA worked together during the dispute, once a settlement was reached MATFA informed the ACTU it would not take part in any damages claim as it was only concerned with the health of its industry and not with an ideological battle with the trade union movement.