55 real examples of unusual government spending from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Each one links to its original source. Amounts are in their original currency and are not adjusted for inflation.
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🛠️ Pricey gadgets
- An Air Force coffee cup that reheats your coffee US$1,280 🇺🇸 2018 · per cup
- ArriveCAN, the pandemic border app C$59.5 million 🇨🇦 2024 · estimated cost
- San Francisco’s famous public toilet US$1.7 million 🇺🇸 2022 · early estimate
- A crop-tending farm robot C$330,000 🇨🇦 2024 · research funding
- A toilet seat cover for an Air Force cargo plane US$10,000 🇺🇸 2018 · per cover
- A hammer bought by the US military US$436 🇺🇸 1984 · one hammer
- Forest-pattern uniforms for the Afghan army US$28 million 🇺🇸 2017 · possible extra cost
- A pilot helmet for the F-35 fighter jet US$400,000 🇺🇸 2015 · per helmet
🎉 Parties & trips
- A government conference in Vegas with a mind reader and a clown US$823,000 🇺🇸 2010 · one conference
- Ontario’s grant toward a giant rubber duck C$120,000 🇨🇦 2017 · provincial grant
- In-flight catering on one Governor General trip C$93,118 🇨🇦 2022 · in-flight catering
- The Millennium Dome £628 million 🇬🇧 2000 · Lottery grants
- A glass of orange juice at a London luxury hotel C$16 🇨🇦 2011 · one glass
- An indoor “lake” for the G8/G20 media centre C$57,000 🇨🇦 2010 · the water feature
- Star Trek and Gilligan’s Island parody videos by the tax agency US$60,000 🇺🇸 2013 · two parody videos
🙈 Never used
- Three water cannons that were never used once £322,834 🇬🇧 2018 · three cannons
- A garden bridge that was never built £43 million 🇬🇧 2017 · public money
- The “Bridge to Nowhere” in Alaska US$398 million 🇺🇸 2007 · projected cost
- Cancelling two power plants in Ontario C$1.1 billion 🇨🇦 2013 · estimated cost of cancelling
- A natural-gas fuel station in Afghanistan US$43 million 🇺🇸 2015 · one fuel station
- Settling a lawsuit over no-deal Brexit ferry contracts £33 million 🇬🇧 2019 · legal settlement
- Emergency Covid field hospitals in England £530 million 🇬🇧 2021 · total cost
- A White House-style press briefing studio in London £2.6 million 🇬🇧 2021 · room refit
- A $660 million car park fund with 2 car parks finished by 2021 A$660.4 million 🇦🇺 2021 · 44 car park projects
- Office rent for a bike bridge that had already been cancelled NZ$491,120 🇳🇿 2022 · office rent
- Six years of planning a light rail line that was never built NZ$228 million 🇳🇿 2024 · spent before cancelling
🐾 Animals
- The shrimp on a treadmill US$47 🇺🇸 2011 · the actual treadmill
- A tunnel to protect bats from HS2 trains £95 million 🇬🇧 2025 · one bat shed
- A robot to find the queen bee US$305,000 🇺🇸 2025 · research award
- A cashmere goat project in Afghanistan US$6 million 🇺🇸 2016 · cashmere project
🚀 Space
- Fish shoulders that could help astronauts C$150,000 🇨🇦 2020 · research grant
- Cleaning up space junk £7.5 million 🇬🇧 2025 · one year
🎨 Public art
- A giant blue ring beside a Calgary road C$471,000 🇨🇦 2013 · one sculpture
- A pile of shiny steel balls beside a highway C$600,000 🇨🇦 2011 · one sculpture
🏗️ Megaprojects
- Phoenix, the federal payroll system C$2.2 billion 🇨🇦 2018 · projected extra cost to 2023
- Montreal’s 1976 Olympic Stadium C$1.5 billion 🇨🇦 2006 · Olympic facilities debt
- A national NHS computer system that was scrapped £10.1 billion 🇬🇧 2013 · estimated total cost
- Edinburgh’s tram line £776 million 🇬🇧 2014 · cost at opening
- Boston’s Big Dig highway tunnel US$24.3 billion 🇺🇸 2012 · full cost estimate
- Muskrat Falls dam in Labrador C$12.7 billion 🇨🇦 2020 · latest completion estimate
- Two island ferries built at Ferguson Marine £293 million 🇬🇧 2023 · estimated cost for two ships
- Ajax armoured reconnaissance vehicles £3.17 billion 🇬🇧 2022 · paid by Dec 2021
- A patch of land worth about $3 million, bought for almost $30 million A$29.8 million 🇦🇺 2018 · 12 hectares of land
- A break-up payment for French submarines Australia never got A$830 million 🇦🇺 2022 · settlement
💻 Tech & systems
- Ontario’s electronic health records effort C$1 billion 🇨🇦 2009 · spent over about a decade
- Quebec’s online licence and auto insurance portal C$1.1 billion 🇨🇦 2025 · likely total cost
- Canada’s firearms registry C$1 billion 🇨🇦 2002 · projected cost
- The HealthCare.gov website US$1.7 billion 🇺🇸 2014 · contracts by 2014
- One day of one consultant for NHS Test and Trace £6,624 🇬🇧 2021 · top daily rate
- Consultants for a transport plan that mostly delivered a pedestrian crossing NZ$39 million 🇳🇿 2022 · on consultants
⚖️ Lawsuits
- Solitary confinement payouts to federal inmates C$28 million 🇨🇦 2023 · class-action damages
- Ontario’s solitary confinement bill C$30 million 🇨🇦 2021 · court-ordered damages
- B.C.’s solitary confinement settlement C$91,000 🇨🇦 2026 · max per person
- Manitoba’s $129-million solitary confinement settlement C$100,000 🇨🇦 2026 · max per person
- Compensation for an automated debt scheme that sent people bills they didn’t owe A$475 million 🇦🇺 2026 · 2026 compensation