Increasing cost of living, natural disasters and rising insurance costs

As an example of natural disaster costs, the 2019/ 20 bushfires burnt over 17 million hectares and they were also very costly, estimated by AccWeather to be $110 billion in terms of total damage and economic loss.

Large numbers of Australian communities, individuals and businesses aren't adequately protected from bushfires, nor are firefighters, nor infrastructure and investments. This is evident in the extent of bushfires, lost lives, and impacts on large numbers of communities/ towns and cities, infrastructure, fire fighters and forests and fauna. Current bushfire mitigation and suppression measures are not working in many locations, and little is changing to rectify this across SE Australia.

Bushfire disaster mitigation measures are very localised, often concentrated near a small number of communities, scattered, often small in size and not undertaken at adequate levels across the landscape. Prescribed burning in forests for all states of Australia, except for WA, is around the 1% (occasionally up to 2%) of forests per year and not adequately applied across landscapes.

Photo. Chauvel Circuit at Chapman Canberra burnt out. Photo Bush Fire Front.A case study in folly #2 – the 2003 Canberra firestorm 6 January 2023 Robert Onfray

Number 2 concern relates to inadequate natural disaster management and mitigation and associated rising insurance costs for home owners and businesses. Due to the inadequate funding on disaster mitigation by governments at all levels, we the people, are paying for these disasters in terms of high insurances.

Information on this is outlined in "Natural disasters force Australians to ditch home insurance By Roxanne Libatique Oct 17, 2023 Insurance Business":

.Two in five Australians affected by natural disasters are left with no choice but to ditch their home insurance amid the rising cost-of-living in the country, according to financial comparison site Mozo.

Mozo's latest research found that Australians with home insurance currently pay $316 more on average than they did last year, with more than half of the respondents (62%) sharing they felt "out of control" with their expenses as the average annual cost of home insurance premiums totals $1,460 annually.

"The amount of Australians that have resorted to cancelling their home insurance because they can't afford it is shocking," said Mozo money expert Rachel Wastell. "But what's more concerning is many are likely paying these rising premiums without realising they're underinsured."

The article notes the huge increases of insurance in disaster-prone areas:

Among the respondents who cancelled their home insurance policy in the last 12 months "because it got too expensive", two in five (39%) were living in areas affected by natural disasters.

Australians living in bushfire-prone areas were most likely to see an increase in their insurance premiums (42%), followed by those in areas impacted by floods (32%). Meanwhile, those living in areas impacted by rising ocean levels were more than twice as likely to have cancelled their home insurance policy than those in unaffected areas, with a 40% rise in premiums on average.

As noted by Mozo Aussies bail on home insurance as natural disasters increase costs By Jack Dona · Last updated Friday, 13 October 2023:

The data shows that, for bushfire and flood-affected customers, home insurance premiums rose by more than 30% on average over the last 12 months.

The author notes that many home and contents insurances around the NSW Clarence are around $6000 to $7000 per year, a huge cost, and way above average Australian costs.

The huge increases in home and business insurances are further adding to Australian cost of living pressure.

Number 3 concern is the amount of our taxes going to provide for post disaster funding such as bushfires and floods is very high.

Strong action required in relation to cost of living, natural disasters and rising insurance costs

Labor says it's looking for ways to ease cost-of-living pressures. Just don't mention the stage-three tax cuts Peter Hannam: