[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":179},["ShallowReactive",2],{"active-categories":3,"blowouts":28,"category-government-waste-1":83},[4,6,8,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27],{"category":5},"follow-the-money",{"category":7},"cost-of-living",{"category":9},"government-waste",{"category":9},{"category":9},{"category":7},{"category":7},{"category":9},{"category":9},{"category":5},{"category":9},{"category":9},{"category":7},{"category":9},{"category":9},{"category":9},{"category":7},{"category":5},{"category":7},{"category":9},{"category":9},[29,39,49,58,66,75],{"path":30,"title":31,"category":9,"date":32,"blowout":33},"\u002Fstories\u002Fbom-website-96-million-one-year-on","One year on: the BOM website that cost $96.5 million, not $4 million","2026-10-24",{"project":34,"originalCost":35,"currentCost":36,"announced":37,"note":38},"BOM website",4100000,96500000,"2025","$4.1m was the figure first given to the public.",{"path":40,"title":41,"category":9,"date":42,"blowout":43},"\u002Fstories\u002Fcross-river-rail-cost-blowout-19-billion","Cross River Rail was sold as a $5.4 billion project. The government now says it costs $19 billion","2026-10-25",{"project":44,"originalCost":45,"currentCost":46,"announced":47,"note":48},"Cross River Rail",5400000000,19041000000,"2017","Queensland Government figure (Oct 2025). It includes 25 years of tunnel maintenance and network works; Labor disputes counting them.",{"path":50,"title":51,"category":9,"date":42,"blowout":52},"\u002Fstories\u002Fhunter-class-frigates-27-billion-three-ships","Hunter-class frigates: sold as nine warships for $35 billion. We're now paying $27 billion for three",{"project":53,"originalCost":54,"currentCost":55,"announced":56,"note":57},"Hunter-class frigates",35000000000,45600000000,"2018","2020 Force Structure Plan estimate for nine ships. The program is now six ships; close to $27bn is allocated for the first three, including the Osborne shipyard.",{"path":59,"title":60,"category":9,"date":42,"blowout":61},"\u002Fstories\u002Finland-rail-cost-blowout-45-billion-parkes","Inland Rail was sold as a $10.7 billion project. It now costs $45.6 billion, and stops at Parkes",{"project":62,"originalCost":63,"currentCost":55,"announced":64,"note":65},"Inland Rail",10660000000,"2015","Both P90 estimates for the full Melbourne to Brisbane line. Only Beveridge to Parkes is now being built.",{"path":67,"title":68,"category":9,"date":42,"blowout":69},"\u002Fstories\u002Fnorth-east-link-cost-blowout-26-billion","North East Link was sold as a $10 billion road. It now costs $26 billion",{"project":70,"originalCost":71,"currentCost":72,"announced":73,"note":74},"North East Link",10000000000,26100000000,"2016","Victoria's December 2023 estimate. Includes the Eastern Freeway and M80 upgrades added since.",{"path":76,"title":77,"category":9,"date":42,"blowout":78},"\u002Fstories\u002Fsnowy-2-0-cost-blowout-25-billion","Snowy 2.0 was sold as a $2 billion project. It could now cost $25 billion",{"project":79,"originalCost":80,"currentCost":81,"announced":47,"note":82},"Snowy 2.0",2000000000,22200000000,"Target cost. Up to $25bn with contingency; transmission not included.",{"stories":84,"total":94},[85,96,106,114,122,130,139,146,152,158,165,173],{"path":86,"title":87,"description":88,"date":89,"category":9,"author":90,"image":91,"imageAlt":91,"bigNumber":92,"bigNumberLabel":93,"readingTime":94,"featured":95},"\u002Fstories\u002Fsuburban-rail-loop-cost-96-billion","Suburban Rail Loop cost: $50bn promised, $96.4bn forecast","How much will the Suburban Rail Loop cost? $33.3bn for stage one, says the government, but the Auditor-General says it could top $36bn. Two stages: $96.4bn.","2026-11-01","Aussie Outrage",null,"$96.4bn","What Victoria's Parliamentary Budget Office estimated in 2024 it would cost to build two sections of the loop. All of it was promised for $50bn.",12,false,{"path":97,"title":98,"description":99,"date":100,"category":9,"author":90,"image":101,"imageAlt":102,"bigNumber":103,"bigNumberLabel":104,"readingTime":105,"featured":95},"\u002Fstories\u002Fbig-build-office-pot-plants-1-6-million","$1.6 million on pot plants for Big Build offices","Rail Projects Victoria spent an estimated $1.64 million on plant hire and maintenance, and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority almost $200,000 more, according to the state opposition.","2026-10-26","\u002Fimages\u002Foffice-plants-desk.jpg","Small potted succulents on a timber office desk","$1.6m","Estimated spend on plant hire and maintenance at Rail Projects Victoria",2,{"path":107,"title":108,"description":109,"date":100,"category":9,"author":90,"image":110,"imageAlt":111,"bigNumber":112,"bigNumberLabel":113,"readingTime":105,"featured":95},"\u002Fstories\u002Fcommonwealth-games-cancelled-589-million","$589 million to host nothing: what cancelling the Commonwealth Games cost Victoria","Victoria pulled out of the 2026 Commonwealth Games to save money. The Auditor-General found walking away cost $589 million with no discernible benefit, and the $6.9 billion figure used to justify it was overstated.","\u002Fimages\u002Feureka-stadium-ballarat.jpg","An aerial view of Eureka Stadium in Ballarat, with a blue athletics track behind it","$589m","What Victoria paid to cancel the 2026 Commonwealth Games",{"path":115,"title":116,"description":117,"date":100,"category":9,"author":90,"image":118,"imageAlt":119,"bigNumber":120,"bigNumberLabel":121,"readingTime":105,"featured":95},"\u002Fstories\u002Fmachete-ban-13-million-bins","The $13 million machete ban: what the money actually pays for","Victoria set aside $13 million for its machete ban and amnesty bins. The bins cost about $2,400 each. The government still hasn't said where the rest of the money goes.","\u002Fimages\u002Fmachete-amnesty-bin-echuca.jpg","A navy steel bin labelled Machete Amnesty Safe Disposal Bin outside Echuca police station","$13m","Budgeted for Victoria's machete ban, including about 45 disposal bins",{"path":123,"title":124,"description":125,"date":100,"category":9,"author":90,"image":126,"imageAlt":127,"bigNumber":128,"bigNumberLabel":129,"readingTime":105,"featured":95},"\u002Fstories\u002Fmetro-tunnel-plaques-70000-replaced","$70,000 to fix the wording on Metro Tunnel plaques","Commemorative plaques for the Metro Tunnel were replaced after errors were found in their wording, at a reported cost of about $70,000. Nobody has said who got it wrong or who paid.","\u002Fimages\u002Fmetro-tunnel-town-hall-platform.jpg","Orange arches above the crowded platform at Town Hall station in Melbourne's Metro Tunnel","$70k","Reported cost of replacing Metro Tunnel plaques after a wording error",{"path":131,"title":132,"description":133,"date":42,"category":9,"author":90,"image":134,"imageAlt":135,"bigNumber":136,"bigNumberLabel":137,"readingTime":138,"featured":95},"\u002Fstories\u002Fbig-build-cfmeu-15-billion-corruption-estimate","The $15 billion question: what corruption on Victoria's Big Build may have cost you","A senior barrister estimates criminal infiltration of the CFMEU added about $15 billion to Victoria's Big Build. The government disputes it. A premier has resigned, a royal commission is under way, and Victorians vote on 28 November.","\u002Fimages\u002Fbig-build-metro-tunnel-abeckett-street.jpg","Hoardings and a white shed around a Metro Tunnel construction site on A'Beckett Street in Melbourne","$15bn","Geoffrey Watson SC's estimate of what corruption may have cost taxpayers on Victoria's Big Build (disputed by the government)",6,{"path":40,"title":41,"description":140,"date":42,"category":9,"author":90,"image":141,"imageAlt":142,"bigNumber":143,"bigNumberLabel":144,"readingTime":145,"featured":95},"Brisbane's Cross River Rail was promised for $5.4bn by 2024. The Queensland Government now puts it at $19.04bn, with first trains in 2029. Labor says the books were cooked.","\u002Fimages\u002Fcross-river-rail-roma-street-site.jpg","A large grey Cross River Rail construction shed at the Roma Street station site in Brisbane","3.5x","Cross River Rail's cost now, on the Queensland Government's count, compared with the $5.4bn first promised",5,{"path":50,"title":51,"description":147,"date":42,"category":9,"author":90,"image":148,"imageAlt":149,"bigNumber":150,"bigNumberLabel":151,"readingTime":138,"featured":95},"The Hunter-class frigate program was cut from nine ships to six, and close to $27bn is now set aside for the first three. The first won't arrive until 2032.","\u002Fimages\u002Fhms-glasgow-type-26.jpg","The grey British frigate HMS Glasgow on a semi-submersible barge at a Glasgow shipyard at sunset","$27bn","Set aside for the first three Hunter-class frigates, out of a program once sold as nine ships for $35bn",{"path":59,"title":60,"description":153,"date":42,"category":9,"author":90,"image":154,"imageAlt":155,"bigNumber":156,"bigNumberLabel":157,"readingTime":138,"featured":95},"Inland Rail's full cost is now $45.6bn, four times the 2015 business case. In May the government stopped it at Parkes, 1,000km short of Brisbane.","\u002Fimages\u002Fparkes-railway-station.jpg","The red-brick Parkes railway station building under a clear blue sky","4x","Inland Rail's latest full cost compared with its 2015 business case",{"path":67,"title":68,"description":159,"date":42,"category":9,"author":90,"image":160,"imageAlt":161,"bigNumber":162,"bigNumberLabel":163,"readingTime":164,"featured":95},"Melbourne's North East Link was unveiled at $10bn in 2016. It's now $26.1bn, Victoria's most expensive road. The Treasurer said 60% of the rise was the government's own choices.","\u002Fimages\u002Fnorth-east-link-bulleen.jpg","An aerial view of North East Link works at Bulleen, with two red and white cranes above the site","2.6x","North East Link's cost now, compared with the $10bn it was unveiled at in 2016",4,{"path":76,"title":77,"description":166,"date":42,"category":9,"author":90,"image":167,"imageAlt":168,"bigNumber":169,"bigNumberLabel":170,"readingTime":171,"featured":172},"Snowy 2.0 was sold at $2 billion in 2017. Snowy Hydro's new target cost is $22.2 billion, up to $25 billion, and first power is now 2029. How it blew out.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsnowy-hydro.jpg","Pipelines run down a hillside to a power station on the Snowy Mountains Scheme","12x","Snowy 2.0's possible final cost compared with the 2017 price tag",9,true,{"path":30,"title":31,"description":174,"date":32,"category":9,"author":90,"image":175,"imageAlt":176,"bigNumber":177,"bigNumberLabel":178,"readingTime":138,"featured":95},"The weather bureau's redesign launched days before a wild storm weekend, confused farmers, and cost 23 times what Australians were first told. Then the same contractor won more work.","\u002Fimages\u002Fbom-berrimah-radar-darwin.jpg","The white dome of a Bureau of Meteorology weather radar on a tower at Berrimah, Darwin","$96.5m","What the BOM website really cost, after the public was told $4.1m",1793586229977]