The BoM has awarded yet another contract to Accenture, the company responsible for its $96 million website fiasco.
Accenture won the new contract, valued at $16 million, for the development of another climate data website for the government, at a time when hundreds of jobs at CSIRO are being axed due to inadequate funding.
The Greens question the BoM's decision to return to a contractor with a proven track record of over-promising and under-delivering.
The Greens say the government should not be outsourcing core government work that could be carried out by the public sector, and that $16 million could be better spent funding critical CSIRO jobs and research in the face of the climate crisis.
As stated by Australian Greens spokesperson for finance, public sector and employment Senator Barbara Pocock:
"Australians deserve to get bang for their buck, not another bungle.
"This is expensive déjà vu. Has the BoM learnt nothing? What will this new contract blow out to?
"Let's not forget that the BoM's website upgrade started at $4 million and blew out to $96 million. And for what? The BoM's website buckled under the pressure of major storms in Adelaide last month.
"In the midst of a climate crisis, $16 million could usefully be used to keep CSIRO scientists employed.
"The BoM needs to take a good hard look at how much they're wasting on website upgrades.
"Australians need to be able to trust that the Bureau will deliver clear, accurate warnings in a climate crisis but they also need to trust that consulting firms aren't ripping off the public purse.
"Science matters and this government continues to approve more coal and gas projects as extreme weather events become more frequent and more dangerous.
"The government should not be opening up new coal and gas projects and it should not be wasting billions on consultants to do core government work. It's all about choices."
As stated by Greens spokesperson for Science, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson:
"The last Accenture contract with the BoM website was a diabolical shitshow, so how on earth Accenture was awarded this new contract beggars belief.
"Scientists will be rightly distraught if they hear that tens of millions of dollars are being spent on new web services when they're being told there's no money to pay for their salaries and critical science research.
"It would be a national disgrace if even a cent was taken away from the Australian Climate Service's capacity to carry out science because of the government's new contract with Accenture.
"This government can find billions for controversial nuclear submarines and subsidising big mining companies, so there is no excuse for them to gut science."
