No one left behind: Canberra steps in to help uninsured flood victims
The Albanese Government has pledged that people priced out of insurance or underinsured will not be left behind as the flood clean-up begins in far north Queensland.
Residents clean up at a property in the Cairns suburb of Holloways Beach (AAP Image/Brian Cassey)
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said the government was working though options to help people who did not have insurance or were underinsured.
“We’re working through what we can do to assist those people as well to ensure that nobody’s left behind as we make the big clean-up effort,” the minister told ABC radio on Friday.
Households and businesses were already able to access immediate disaster relief payments and this support would remain available over the medium term.
The minister said it was important that insurance was tuned to appropriately provide assistance and cover risks in a rapidly changing climate.
“What we’re experiencing in Australia is part of a global phenomenon with reinsurers and global insurers starting to factor in the impact of climate change,” he said.
“And the impact of those severe weather events and the risks associated with them and insurance policies.”
He said the government’s role included making sure the right disaster resilience was in place, such as building the right infrastructure, carefully locating suburbs, and appropriately designed homes.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the flood-hit areas on Friday.
“There’s been devastating impact of these floods here in far north Queensland,” he told Sky News on Friday.
“We will be offering further support today on top of the support that’s going to individuals disaster relief payments.
“We’ll be providing a package of four packages of support, one for primary producers, one for small business and non-government organisations, support for the nine local government areas who have been impacted by this, and in addition to that, tourism recovery package as well.”
More than a week after arriving as a cyclone, Jasper is still impacting the far north with Kowanyama in the remote Cape York now on high alert.
Major flooding is set to impact the community from Saturday with vulnerable residents evacuated to Cairns as a precaution.
Ex-cyclone Jasper is currently in the Gulf of Carpentaria, causing showers and thunderstorms across the Cape’s north.
