BoM’s ‘enormous’ fee hike for South Burnett council’s weather data

South Burnett rate payers face a $76,000 bill after the Bureau of Meteorology hiked weather forecasting fees by 23 per cent at Kingaroy Airport.

A media release from the South Burnett Council revealed the fee charged by the Bureau of Meteorology to host a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast service at the Kingaroy airport increased by 23 per cent.

A Queensland council has called for a review of weather forecasting fees charged by the federally run Bureau of Meteorology after being hit with an “enormous” increase which will cost ratepayers tens of thousands of dollars.

The South Burnett Regional Council posted the call to action on its website and social media pages last week.

It revealed the Bureau’s fee to host the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast service, or TAF, at the Kingaroy Airport increased by 23 per cent, which brings to total cost to around $76,614 for the financial year.

“Access to weather data is imperative for our community, our Council to prepare for disasters, as well as our airport users including the Royal Flying Doctor Service and other medical specialists servicing our area,” the media release read.

“The review of this unjust fee rise is of the highest priority to ensure residents of the South Burnett continue to have fair and reasonable access to this essential community service.”

According to the media release, Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt said the Bureau did not charge for standard equipment, rather the specialised aviation and forecasts, and the review of fees and charges was aligned with the Australian government Charging Framework.

Nationals leader David Littleproud reportedly said the council should not be forced to pay “enormous fee increases” to fund the organisation’s “failed” business model.

“The Bureau of Meteorology has been littered with errors for some years now – their business model is to fail and then ask for more money,” Mr Littleproud was quoted as saying in the media release.

“Council should not be forking out for the bill for the BoM’s mistakes – or be forced to pay enormous fee increases.”

Minister for the Environment and Water Murray Watt said the review of fees and charges was aligned with the Australian government Charging Framework. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The call to action from the council came just a week after it was announced the Bureau would no longer provide free real-time rainfall and river gauge data to councils as it phased out Enviromon, the key piece of software used to provide this information.

This data is considered critical for disaster preparations and councils are being cut off because the replacement system, known as OneRain, cannot be sub-licensed, according to the Bureau.

Local Government Association of Queensland chief executive Alison Smith said ratepayers would be charged for information they relied on in emergencies, as councils would need to spend tens of thousands to get a new system, plus pay annual subscription fees.

“When weather events are becoming more frequent and more severe it simply does not make sense that a service taxpayers have already funded wants to charge for emergency information,” she said.

Ms Leahy called for the Bureau, which last financial year cost taxpayers $696m to operate, to reconsider the decision.

A BoM spokesman said flood warning data would still be available for free on the organisation’s website, however it would be updated every 15 minutes whereas the current system provides fresh data at five-minute intervals.

Enviromon will be completely phased out by June 30, 2026, and councils have been told to source their own software to meet their requirements before this time.