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The receipts on how your money is spent.
We follow Australian taxpayers' money: projects that blow their budgets, politicians' expenses, companies that pay no tax, and what it all means for the cost of living.
Every claim is sourced
Budget papers, audit reports, ABS data and court records, linked at the bottom of every story.
Opinion is labelled
The facts are facts. When we say something fails the pub test, we tell you that's our view.
Mistakes get fixed
Anyone named can reply, and we correct errors in public. Read our standards.
Try this first
Guess the blowout
We show you the first figure Australians were given. You guess what the project costs now. How close can you get?
Read these first
- 1WasteSnowy 2.0 was sold as a $2 billion project. It could now cost $25 billionHow a $2 billion announcement in 2017 became one of Australia's most expensive blowouts.9 min read
- 2WasteOne year on: the BOM website that cost $96.5 million, not $4 millionA weather website that cost 23 times what Australians were first told.6 min read
- 3Money1,149 of Australia's biggest companies paid no income tax last yearMore than one in four of the biggest companies paid no income tax. What the ATO's own data shows.7 min read
- 4MoneyHow to move a profit offshore: the 9% loan and the Singapore hubTwo real cases that show, step by step, how a profit moves offshore.5 min read
- 5Cost of LivingPower prices 'fell' this year. So why is your bill bigger?Why your power bill went up in a year prices were said to fall.6 min read
Our trackers
Live
The debt clock →
The national debt and every state's, ticking up in real time from the Budget figures.
Tracker
The blowout leaderboard →
6 government projects ranked by how far they blew out. $95.6bn over, so far.
Profiles
The Spending Trail →
What politicians charged to taxpayers, and what the expenses watchdog found.
Opinion
The pub test →
Spending that was within the rules, but that most Australians would never get away with.
Got a story we should tell?
Waste you've seen up close, a policy that's hurting your family, a cost you can't keep up with. We read every tip and protect our sources.
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