King Island Mayor says new BOM website is 'an absolute joke', calls for those responsible to be fired

The Bureau of Meteorology’s new website, launched in late October, was intended to modernise Australia’s national weather service.

The $4.1 million redesign promised better navigation, mobile compatibility, and improved accessibility. Instead, it has drawn widespread criticism for being confusing, unreliable, and poorly timed.

On King Island, where weather affects daily life and local industries, the response has been particularly strong. Mayor Marcus Blackie described the new site as “an absolute joke” and said it had failed the people who rely on it.

“The new Bureau of Meteorology website is an absolute joke and needs to be fixed or the old one fully restored ASAP,” he said.

“Weather is a serious business on King Island. Lives and livelihoods can depend upon accurate forecasting, immediately identifiable warnings, and real-time telemetry, especially for farming, aviation and fishing.

“This is a critical national service, and I am appalled at the level of incompetence. There needs to be extreme accountability, and those responsible in Canberra should be fired.”

Across regional Australia, users have complained that the redesign makes basic functions harder to find and that the new radar system is difficult to read.

The familiar dark tones that showed hail and heavy rain have been replaced with new “rain-rate” colours that many say are confusing.

Some features, such as GPS-based local weather data, appear to have been removed altogether.

The timing of the rollout has also been questioned.

The Bureau introduced the site just as severe storms were affecting Queensland and Victoria, creating difficulties for users trying to access real-time warnings.

Federal Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt has ordered the Bureau to “urgently address” the public’s concerns. Acting BoM chief executive Dr Peter Stone has issued an apology and promised quick improvements.

In response to pressure, the Bureau has already reinstated the old “reflectivity” radar view, which shows rainfall intensity in the original colour scale.

Further scrutiny has come after reports that the $4.1 million redesign is part of a much larger $866 million technology upgrade known as Project Robust, with $86 million connected to the website and its supporting systems.

Questions have been raised about whether users in regional areas were properly consulted during development.

The Bureau has defended the upgrade, saying it is necessary to improve security, system reliability, and performance across mobile and digital platforms.

It says more updates are coming to restore missing functions and improve usability.

For King Island residents, those assurances offer little comfort.

Local industries depend on accurate and accessible weather data to make operational decisions. Farmers, fishers, and pilots all require reliable radar and forecast information to plan safely.

In a concession to widespread frustration, the Bureau has kept the old website accessible at reg.bom.gov.au.

The older version still includes many of the familiar radar and forecast features while fixes are made to the new site, though it is unclear how long it will remain online.

Mayor Blackie said the Bureau needs to focus on service reliability, not appearance.

“Weather information isn’t optional for us,” he said.

“It needs to work properly, every time.”

As the Bureau works to correct faults and restore confidence, King Islanders are watching closely.

For a community where weather shapes work and safety every day, the expectation is clear, the nation’s weather service must deliver dependable information, not digital frustration.