Foreign
THE series of floods that devastated Australia’s eastern states earlier in 2022 cost billions of dollars in insurance losses, with the financial impact being felt throughout every home in the country.
According to a report by the Insurance Council of Australia’s (ICA) released on Thursday, the February-March floods in northern New South Wales (NSW) and south-east Queensland cost 5.28 billion Australian dollars (3.57 billion U.S. dollars) in insured losses.
McKell Institute Chief Executive Michael Buckland, said the findings showed that the floods not only impacted millions of people caught in the rising waters, but also “showed that even individuals who were not directly impacted bear the economic and social cost.”
“Every Australian pays for natural disasters through the rising cost of produce or shouldering the tax bill for recovery,” Buckland said.
The report also looked at how climate change was impacting the affordability of insurance in the areas hardest hit by cyclones, bushfires and floods.
Residents in the nation’s north, which often suffered the brunt of such disasters, now paid about 1.8 times more in insurance premiums than homeowners in southern regions.
ICA Chief Executive Andrew Hall said the findings were stark reminders of the urgent need to invest in strengthening the communities against worsening extreme weather.
He called on state and territory governments to reform taxes on insurance to make them more affordable for those who were now most at risk from extreme weather events. (Xinhua/NAN)
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Tags: Andrew Hall Insurance Council of Australia’s Michael Buckland
