Outside help key in clean-up

A QUEENSLAND insurance giant says using non-local tradespeople will be necessary to get Townsville’s flood recovery moving as fast as possible.

Suncorp Insurance chief executive Gary Dransfield visited the city on Saturday and said local tradespeople would be used to help stimulate Townsville’s economy but the size of the recovery warranted outside help.

“What we find is for very large-scale disasters, the local supply chains get exhausted quite quickly so that’s why we balance the use of local with trades and supply chains we bring in from outside the local regional area,” he said.

“We’re absolutely committed to using local trades and filling up that capacity, because we’re going to need every bit of it, and also bringing in what we need to get the right pace of recovery for our customers. Our priority is to … get the recovery moving as fast as we can.” Mr Dransfield said he planned to meet with customers in Townsville this week and urged residents to take advantage of community recovery centres.

“There’s lots of people, insurance and otherwise, for them to talk to, to get help and there are, in these circumstances, a lot of people that want to help,” he said. Meanwhile, calls for insurance companies to “do the right thing” and pay out policies have been echoed by both major political parties.

Deputy Premier Jackie Trad said the recent banking royal commission showed financial institutions needed to “lift their socks and start treat- ing customers appropriately”. “We know that Australians are crying out for a higher standard of ethics and a higher standard of responsiveness,” she said.

LNP leader Deb Frecklington said companies had to “ditch their tricky tactics” and pay out policies to families and small business owners.