There’s no denying Queensland has a lot going for it, but unfortunately Queensland is also the most disaster impacted state in Australia. The physical, financial and psychological tolls extreme weather have on people, communities, business and our economy each year are long lasting and costly.

And while the forces of nature continue to accelerate through climate change, we know to a degree the impacts can be reduced or avoided.

Queensland’s social and economic prosperity over the next decade and beyond hinges on a greater level of investment in long-term resilience and mitigation measures that better protect people, homes and businesses from extreme weather and ensure Queenslanders continue to have access to affordable insurance.

This is becoming a growing issue to address as global reinsurers reassess and reprice the increased climate risk across Australia and New Zealand, essentially creating a transference of risk from reinsurers to primary insurers like Suncorp and, in part, to consumers through higher premiums. History will record that the availability of relatively cheap reinsurance has contributed to the inability of our built environment to cope with current and future climate outcomes. Put simply, more than a century of lax planning laws and the insurance safety net have allowed too many homes to be built where they should never have been built.

It’s an issue that cannot be solved by the industry or governments alone; we must work constructively together. This is why Suncorp continues to strongly advocate for a policy response through a four point plan to build a more resilient Queensland and Australia. This includes land use planning reform and addressing inadequate building codes, further investment in community infrastructure such as flood levees, removing inefficient taxes and charges that are built into insurance premiums, and improving the resilience of private dwellings to minimise damage
and associated costs and inconvenience. 

We know that any dollar spent on resilience and mitigation is better than a dollar spent on insurance or loss compensation, as stronger, safer and more resilient communities benefit everyone, including the taxpayer. The bottom line is if you reduce the risk, you reduce the burden these natural hazards have on local communities and you put downward pressure on insurance premiums.

We’re starting to see some encouraging commitments of Federal and State government funding for mitigation and resilience programs, but there remains more to do. Working together, governments of all levels, first responders, insurers and property owners have a limited window to ensure Queensland is appropriately equipped to deal with extreme weather and climate patterns such as La Niña, which has tormented us over the past three years with severe rain and flooding, or the recently declared El Niño, which is likely to bring warmer, drier conditions and an increased risk of bushfire and drought.

A more resilient Queensland, underpinned by a sustainable insurance industry that can underwrite emerging industries such as renewables, support local businesses and provide affordable coverage for Queenslanders well into the future, will be a prosperous one. But the policy reform must start now.