£1.7bn observatory project denies claims of financial misconduct

It is hailed as a global endeavour to explore the hidden universe - a powerful telescope comprising more than 130,000 antennas being built in outback Western Australia.

- Sarah Martin

Along with a sister telescope in South Africa, the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) is a €2bn (£1.7bn) project to map the first billion years of the universe.

One day, the SKAO's antennas, which look like metal Christmas trees scattered across the desert, could confirm the existence of extraterrestrial life, test Einstein's general theory of relativity and explain how galaxies evolved. But while the venture is being lauded as one of the most significant scientific endeavours of the 21st century, the organisation managing the funds of 16 member states has been rocked by allegations of financial misconduct. The organisation has denied any wrongdoing.

The Australian government contribution to the SKAO is more than A$150m (£72m) over budget from 2020 to 2024 compared with its initial estimates. The additional expenditure is partly attributed to funding shortfalls for the project.

In March, as the telescope in Australia captured its first images of faraway galaxies using just 1% of its capacity, a former senior employee of the project was filing a "protected disclosure" report calling for an investigation into the SKAO's financial management.

As an intergovernmental organisation, the observatory is not subject to national laws or regulatory oversight in Australia where the employee is based, so the complaint went directly to Dr Filippo Zerbi, an Italian astrophysicist who is the global chair of the organisation. The concerns outlined in the disclosure had been raised with senior staff internally.

In response to the whistleblower's report, an email from Zerbi in May, seen by the Guardian, confirms the organisation is conducting an external independent evaluation of the allegations made against it.