[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":153},["ShallowReactive",2],{"active-categories":3,"blowouts":28,"stories-page-2":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":152},[85,94,103,109,115,122,130,138,146],{"path":40,"title":41,"description":86,"date":42,"category":9,"author":87,"image":88,"imageAlt":89,"bigNumber":90,"bigNumberLabel":91,"readingTime":92,"featured":93},"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.","Aussie Outrage","\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,false,{"path":95,"title":96,"description":97,"date":42,"category":5,"author":87,"image":98,"imageAlt":99,"bigNumber":100,"bigNumberLabel":101,"readingTime":102,"featured":93},"\u002Fstories\u002Feast-coast-gas-exported-australians-pay-more","Three-quarters of east coast gas is shipped overseas. Australians pay export prices for the rest","Before the Gladstone LNG plants opened, east coast gas cost about $4 a gigajoule. Now it's around $14, and the regulator is warning of shortfalls. Follow the gas, and the money.","\u002Fimages\u002Fgas-curtis-island-lng.jpg","An aerial view of LNG plants being built on Curtis Island, with storage tanks on the shoreline near Gladstone","75%","Share of east coast gas production that is exported as LNG",6,{"path":50,"title":51,"description":104,"date":42,"category":9,"author":87,"image":105,"imageAlt":106,"bigNumber":107,"bigNumberLabel":108,"readingTime":102,"featured":93},"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":110,"date":42,"category":9,"author":87,"image":111,"imageAlt":112,"bigNumber":113,"bigNumberLabel":114,"readingTime":102,"featured":93},"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":116,"date":42,"category":9,"author":87,"image":117,"imageAlt":118,"bigNumber":119,"bigNumberLabel":120,"readingTime":121,"featured":93},"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":123,"title":124,"description":125,"date":42,"category":7,"author":87,"image":126,"imageAlt":127,"bigNumber":128,"bigNumberLabel":129,"readingTime":102,"featured":93},"\u002Fstories\u002Fpower-bills-rebates-ended-prices-falling","Power prices 'fell' this year. So why is your bill bigger?","The regulator cut its benchmark price by a few per cent in July. But the government rebates have ended, and the rises of 2022 to 2024 haven't gone anywhere. Here's what's really happening to your power and heating bills.","\u002Fimages\u002Felectricity-pylons-gregadoo.jpg","Two electricity transmission pylons in a green paddock under a blue sky at Gregadoo, NSW","18-22%","How much higher the typical household power bill was in NSW, Victoria and SA, year on year, in the September 2025 quarter",{"path":131,"title":132,"description":133,"date":42,"category":5,"author":87,"image":134,"imageAlt":135,"bigNumber":136,"bigNumberLabel":137,"readingTime":92,"featured":93},"\u002Fstories\u002Fprofit-shifting-money-trail-chevron-rio-tinto","How to move a profit offshore: the 9% loan and the Singapore hub","Two real cases, one decided in court and one settled with the tax office for about $1 billion, show how multinationals can shrink an Australian tax bill. Follow the money, step by step.","\u002Fimages\u002Fsingapore-financial-district.jpg","The towers of Singapore's financial district seen across Marina Bay","~$1bn","What Rio Tinto agreed to pay the ATO to settle its Singapore marketing hub dispute",{"path":76,"title":77,"description":139,"date":42,"category":9,"author":87,"image":140,"imageAlt":141,"bigNumber":142,"bigNumberLabel":143,"readingTime":144,"featured":145},"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":147,"date":32,"category":9,"author":87,"image":148,"imageAlt":149,"bigNumber":150,"bigNumberLabel":151,"readingTime":102,"featured":93},"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",21,1793703844309]