[lwkl]

So according to this article [1] the hundred million is for the renewal of the whole infrastructure including the supercomputer calculating the weather model. If this is true the supercomputer alone costs at least $10 - 20 million. This would make the cost a whole lot more reasonable.

[1] https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-24/bom-website-approved-...

[plantain]

The new supercomputer was budgeted for 50 mil, and cost 866 million... 8 years late and out of date on delivery.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/environment/2024/06...

[nhinck3]

I haven't seen an estimate for $50m for the super computer but guesstimating based off the available specs it's in the ~$2-300m range.

[lwkl]

The current supercomputer was AUD 50m [1] and HP seems to have won a few expansion and other contracts for another AUD 50 - 70 million for the next few years. Which are all reasonable.

But it seems like the budget for the software was anything else than reasonable and has crazy budget overruns...

[1] https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/?Id=3fd94307-e8eb-1220-4a...

[nhinck2]

Given the dates that's probably for Australis I, not Australis II that was rolled out in the robust program.

[lwkl]

Yes you are right this was for Australis I.

[Maxious]

No, the entire ROBUST program including supercomputers and what not is actually $866m https://www.itnews.com.au/news/boms-seven-year-technology-tr...

> the cost breakdown included $4.1 million for the redesign, $79.8 million for the website build, and the site's launch and security testing cost $12.6 million.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11-23/bureau-of-meteorology...

> “Additional features, security testing and preparedness for website launch cost $12.6 million. This includes the build, test and deployment of feature releases, and performance and load testing to ensure the website can accommodate peak volumes of traffic we see during severe weather.”

https://www.smh.com.au/technology/premium-prices-for-a-downg...

Part of the challenge is how obsficated the public records are - rather than being called "website" the contracts are disclosed as "Channels Platform"

Deloitte, $4m for design https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/cde4ad08-e9d1-4526-a407-5... Accenture, $79m for build https://www.tenders.gov.au/Cn/Show/f506481d-0bbd-4776-a3f1-5...

[lwkl]

Wow thank you. That's really expensive if it's just for the website displaying the processed data.

I just looked up the cost of the recent redesign of the weather service in my small country of Switzerland. And I don't think more than 10 times the cost can be explained by the size of the country.

The redesign of the website of the website of the weather service in my small country cost about $6-7 million and the project planning was $600'000. It seems like they hired the same company that did the previous website which makes sense since they spent the previous 10 years keeping it running.

[latentsea]

So like an 80 million dollar mark up for a $10 a month VPS is in there somewhere?