Environment Minister Murray Watt urges BOM to ‘take taxpayers money seriously’ after $96m website bungle

Environment Minister Murray Watt has urged the Bureau of Meteorology to “take taxpayers money seriously” after their “disappointing” $96 million website bungle.

It comes as it has been revealed the recent BOM website overhaul rolled out in October — which was unpopular with scores of Australians — cost a staggering $96 million rather than the $4.1million originally claimed by the agency.

Politicians from all sides have criticised the blow out and raised questions over cultural issues within BOM.

David Littleproud accused BOM of “misleading” the public on the total cost of the unpopular website change, warning the fiasco had the potential to erode the public’s trust in BOM.

“It’s disgraceful and there’s a cultural deficiency at the Bureau of Meteorology,” the Nationals’ leader told Sky News on Monday.

“They actually said publicly that it costs $4.1 million, it’s now 96 million. The fact that they have misled the Australian people in that way is disgraceful.

“They’ve had a litany of errors, not just in their forecasting, but now treating people with such disrespect.”

“It just goes to show there’s a cultural problem at the Bureau, and unless the minister gets involved, I suspect we’re going to see an erosion of any confidence in the Bureau moving forward.”

Labor Assistant Minister Matt Thistlethwaite said the government simply couldn’t explain the spending which was why the Environment Minister had launched a probe into it.

“That cost blowout is ridiculous and simply unacceptable. And that’s why Murray Watt has launched an investigation to try and find out how this has occurred,” he said.

Senator Watt revealed the bureau did not tell him the scale of the expense when he was first briefed and told ABC Radio he had “very serious concerns” over how the redesign was managed.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s new chief executive Dr Stuart Minchin, who has only been in the chair or two weeks, has been ordered to account for the blowout.

“I met with [Minchin] on his very first day to outline my concerns and my request for him to get on top of this,” Senator Watt said.

“I’m looking forward to a bit of a change in the culture and the approach of the BoM, and I want to make very clear that it’s an institution and has staff that I very much support.”

Dr Minchin —who took over from former chief Andrew Johnson — has vowed to deliver greater transparency within the agency.

Senator Watt said it was clear to date the agency’s actions hadn’t met public expectations.

“I’m as disappointed as anyone about this. I’m very disappointed in the way this has been handled,” Senator Watt said.

“The BOM is an independent agency, and it manages its own affairs. But obviously it’s important that they, like every other federal agency, take taxpayers’ money seriously.

“My understanding is that there were many dimensions to this project. It wasn’t just about designing what goes on the screen.

“There was a lot of back-of-house work as well. But I accept that it’s a lot of money, and it’s important that the bond can justify to the Australian public that it’s using that money wisely.”

Liberal Senator Maria Kovacic said the BOM app was an important piece of government infrastructure but agreed the excessive cost of the redevelopment needed to be explained.

“For the cost to blow out to almost $100 million is extraordinary and something that this government needs to explain as to how this has happened, why it has happened, and how the spending has gotten so out of control,” she said.