Town ‘built’ to handle floods
GROPER Creek residents believe they should have the option to say no to flood insurance, or be given discounts for preparedness.
This comes as new data shows that 99.07 per cent of Groper Creek could be uninsurable by 2030.
The Climate Council has released the data as part of its deep dive into high-risk properties nationally.
While North Queensland doesn’t cut it in the top 10 most under threat regions, data for Dawson and Herbert shows that 5.36 per cent and 16.25 per cent of properties are at risk of becoming uninsurable, respectively.
Railway Estate, at 98.09 per cent, is the most at-risk suburb in Herbert.
While the government’s reinsurance pool is set to begin from July 1, there is more work to be done to ensure the North stays insured.
Sue Malaponte has lived in Groper Creek for the past two decades and has never made a flood claim – despite the area being flood-prone.
She said when searching for new policies, people in Groper Creek may not even make it past the postcode or suburb search.
“We know we’re at risk here … but we’re actually built for the floods down here,” she said.
“Houses have got to be so high, we don’t keep things underneath our house, the little bit of stuff that is under our house, we can move quickly.”
Ms Malaponte said despite residents mitigating the risk the best they can, there was no reward.
“On some insurance, I know that if you’ve got all the security features like your Crimsafe and your security alarm … you get recognised for that and reflected in your policy, down here we don’t get any reflection,” she said.
Another Groper Creek resident, Ross Chapman, would prefer not to have flood insurance at all.
“I’ve got flood insurance, because it floods, but only because Suncorp put it on me,” he said.
“I don’t want it, because I know it floods. I’m 10 feet off the ground, I don’t need flood insurance.”
North Queensland’s political hopefuls are divided about how best to prepare the region for the future.
For Labor’s Dawson candidate, it was about better preparing for the future.
“Labor will also act to protect North Queensland communities from the impact of natural disasters right now, through our Disaster Ready Fund,” Shane Hamilton said.
“The Disaster Ready Fund will spend up to $200m every year on disaster resilience and mitigation works, including flood levees, household resilience programs, evacuation centres, cyclone shelters and more.”
However, his LNP opponent Andrew Willcox said the Climate Council’s release of the report was “politically motivated”.
“We don’t need a report like this to point out we face extreme weather events – that’s a fact of life in the tropics and it’s been happening for a century,” Mr Willcox said.
Herbert MP Phillip Thompson said last week’s weather event clearly showed that more needed to be done in some Townsville suburbs.
He said his government had already funded resilience and mitigation projects, and there were grants and funding available to help address disaster-related concerns.
Mr Thompson said the LNP would work with key organisations, bodies and local governments to ensure the North was prepared for whatever happens in the future.
Labor’s candidate John Ring said regional Queenslanders were experiencing the effects of climate change right now. “Meanwhile, the Morrison government are tearing themselves apart over net zero, costing regional Queensland jobs and opportunities,” he said.