The old BOM website - still live, still works
They spent $96,500,000 replacing it. It's still online. Still works.
Go see for yourself
The original Bureau of Meteorology radar page, the one Australians actually used and loved, is still sitting right where it always was.
Visit the old BOM radar →reg.bom.gov.au/australia/radar/
What $96.5 million was supposed to replace
●The old site
- Built and maintained by BOM staff
- Used by millions of Australians daily
- Radar page was the most visited government page in Australia
- Fast, functional, no-nonsense design
- Still online at reg.bom.gov.au
●The $96.5M replacement
- Cost: $96,500,000 of taxpayer money
- Built by external contractors
- Widely criticised by users and media
- Missing features from the original
- Now live at bom.gov.au
The radar page that wouldn't die
The BOM radar page at reg.bom.gov.au/australia/radar/ was arguably the most important page on any Australian government website. Farmers checked it before harvest. Pilots checked it before takeoff. Families checked it before the weekend barbecue.
It was fast. It was simple. It loaded on any device, any connection speed, anywhere in the country. It did one thing and it did it well.
Then the government spent $96.5 million to replace it.
And the old one is still there. Still loading. Still working. Still free.
Key old BOM pages still online
National radar overview
The full Australian radar mosaic, the page millions relied on daily
Visit →Melbourne radar loop
Classic animated radar loop for Melbourne and surrounds
Visit →Sydney radar loop
Classic animated radar loop for Sydney and surrounds
Visit →Climate data (Melbourne)
Historical weather data downloads, still working perfectly
Visit →The question worth $96.5 million
If the old website still works, still serves millions of Australians, and the government hasn't taken it offline, what exactly did $96.5 million buy?