Call for flood map probe
‘It’s Christmas in July for insurance companies’
THE State Government has not undertaken any investigation into how new flooding maps will affect Gold Coast residents’ insurance premiums.
The city council was forced to create mapping that shows the impact of an 80cm sea level rise to get government approval of its City Plan.
After receiving complaints from residents about the on- line mapping, Member for Theodore –Mark Boothman asked State Development Minister Cameron Dick if his department was investigated the effect the policy changes would have on home insurance premiums.
“No report on the effect of the inclusion of the 0.8m sea level rise upon home and contents insurance policy premiums has been undertaken,” Mr Dick replied.
He said the Queensland government allocated $12 million to the QCoast2100 program, which provides funding, tools and technical support to enable local governments to plan for climate change-related coastal hazard risks.
Mr Dick said the Insurance Council of Australia advised on its website that “the coastal risks of storm surge, coastal erosion and gradual sea level rise are excluded by many general insurance policies in Australia”.
Mr Boothman told the Gold Coast Bulletin: “It was disappointing to see the Palaszczuk Government’s lack of interest in protecting Queenslanders from price gouging by those providing home and contents insurance. As one resident from Helensvale who has already seen premiums increase dramatically said, this is Christmas in July for the insurance companies.”
He said the Queensland Government needed to ensure protections were in place to stop insurers from profiteering from hypothetical flood maps 80 years into the future.
The Gold Coast City Council received more than 40 complaints about the flood maps in submissions to its City Plan.
Burleigh MP Michael Hart in a tweet yesterday asked Mr Dick to provide the scientific evidence that sea levels would rise by 80cm in the next 100 years.
Mr Dick later tweeted: “Floods put Queenslanders at risk. Climate change is real and all governments must act.”