The Cost of Watching the Weather

Opinion Piece By Andrew Willcox MP

It’s been another wet and wild start to the year. Across North Queensland, there are many
anxious people asking familiar questions: will the roads flood, how many cyclones will
we face, and will there be food on the shelves?

No one can accurately predict the weather. Some try. And while a few may pride
themselves on sticking their head out the window to make a call, no organisation is more
relied on by Australians for weather advice than the Bureau of Meteorology. Its
forecasters are highly credentialed professionals who play a critical role in keeping our
communities informed and safe.

That is why confidence in the Bureau’s systems matters. In particular the BoM website.

A modern, reliable website is essential when families, farmers, truck drivers, and
emergency services are making decisions during severe weather.

Unfortunately, the recent attempt to upgrade the Bureau’s website has fallen well short
of expectations.

Initially priced in to cost $4.1 million, the blow out hit $96.5 million. That’s 23.5 times
what was budgeted. This is an eye watering figure even for the level of sophistication
required. And for that price tag, what exactly did we get. Not much.

Today, Australians are eAectively using a combination of the new website and legacy
systems, with limited confidence that the upgrade has delivered meaningful
improvement. In simple terms, nearly $100 million has been spent and we are still relying
on much of the same old website and functionality.  Don’t’ forget it is likely that more
money will still need to be spent to get the website to where it should be right now.

People are rightly asking how a government project ended up costing so much while
delivering so little. When a project promised to deliver a better service and instead
creates confusion, there must be accountability.

The Minister responsible, Senator Murray Watt, expressed frustration after the blowout
became public. But the real question is where was the ministerial scrutiny as costs
escalated and when were the warning signs noticed? Why wasn’t the project paused or
reined in earlier? Additionally, a large portion of the money paid to external consultants
was attributed to testing. What sort of testing did they do? Because within hours of the
new website going live, members of the public were pointing out the problems and they
weren’t even paid to give their advice.

In the grand scheme of things $96.5 million may seem like a relatively small governmental
expenditure but put a few of these costs blow out together, as has been the case under
the Albanese government and there are major budgetary problems. No wonder this
government’s account keeping is all over the place.

As we have seen again these past few weeks, North Queensland’s weather can change
rapidly. That is why preparation matters.

• Keep emergency supplies such as water, non-perishable food, batteries and medications at the ready.
• Secure loose items around your home.
• Check in on family, friends and neighbours.
• Monitor local council disaster dashboards.
• Avoid driving through floodwaters.

Our weather may be unpredictable, but preparation saves lives. Be storm ready, look out
for one another, and above all, stay safe.

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