BOM website update: Environment Minister Murray Watt calls for urgent fixes to Bureau of Meteorology website

Environment Minister Murray Watt has hauled the Bureau of Meteorology in for a “please explain” over its controversial website update, which has prompted a flood of complaints to politicians from upset users.

But Nationals leader David Littleproud has called for a complete review of the new website, saying it clearly wasn’t giving his constituents in Maranoa – which covers about half of Queensland – the information they needed about recent rain.

“I am hearing from many locals that the new platform no longer allows them to enter GPS coordinates for their specific property locations, restricting searches to towns or postcodes,” Mr Littleproud said.

“As a result, families, businesses and farmers are unable to access vital, localised data such as river heights and rainfall information. Others have found the website difficult to navigate and note they cannot locate the radar function without extensive exploration of the site.”

Senator Watt said it was clear the new BOM website wasn’t wasn’t meeting people’s expectations.

He made it clear to the Bureau’s acting chief executive Peter Stone that it needed to be fixed as soon as possible.

Senator Watt also encouraged anyone with complaints to provide their feedback to the BOM directly at bom.gov.au/contact or by calling 1300 754 389

He joked about the intervention ahead of a speech on environmental law reform to a business group in Canberra this morning.

“EPBC reform is not the only thing on my plate at the moment. It turns out getting involved in website design is a new skill I can add to my LinkedIn profile,” he said.