Insurance woes on Cabinet agenda

THE Federal Government will do what it “sensibly can” to fix the insurance woes of North Queenslanders once it has digested the recommendations of a major inquiry.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, in Townsville yesterday, said the Government was still working through the 28 recommendations made by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in its interim Northern Australia insurance inquiry report.

“We are assessing it, (and) we are talking to stakeholders,” he said.

“We will continue to work directly with the insurance companies and we will be acting on those recommendations as swiftly as we can having properly consulted with all of the relevant stakeholders.

“We will do what we sensibly can.”

Mr Cormann’s comments come after Cairns-based Labor Senator Nita Green urged the government to hustle on fixing the insurance issues.

The ACCC released the second updated report of its insurance inquiry in July, urging governments and industry to “act quickly” on all recommendations.

This included giving consumers more control over how building claims are settled, doubling the time on renewal notices from 14 days to 28 days, and creating a governmentrun national home insurance website.

The Insurance Council of Australia does not support the national price comparison website, arguing it would not “deliver useful information” as consumers in other areas did not face the same level of risks as those in Northern Australia.

Mr Cormann was in Townsville as part of a so-called “Minister blitz” in MP Phillip Thompson’s seat of Herbert.

Other Federal Government ministers and assistant ministers are scheduled to be in Townsville in the lead up to a sitting of parliament in Canberra in September.