Increasing cost of living, natural disasters and rising insurance costs

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, used his first media conference of 2024 to declare he had ordered the Treasury and finance departments to conjure ideas about easing cost-of-living pressures without stoking inflation. Tinkering with the tax cuts, though, is not among them even if Treasury had reportedly provided advice about options for change.

There are huge opportunities in relation to reducing disaster costs and associated insurance costs. Here's some opportunities for governments, Treasury, finance departments and other agencies about easing cost-of-living pressures without stoking inflation and reducing disasters, disaster costs and insurance:

Number 1 is to increase the 3 per cent of disaster funding that is invested prior to bushfire, flood and other disaster events to reduce the impact of future disasters, as noted in a Deloitte Access Economics (2022) report. Maybe increase to 50 % of disaster funding spent of mitigation and preparedness.

Number 2 pertains to dramatically increase fire mitigation funding, noting that there is further disaster funding detail in 2020 Menzies Research Centre Strengthening Resilience: Managing natural disasters after the 2019-20 bushfire season.

Number 3 is to dramatically increase prescribed burning and reduce high fuel loads across forested landscapes, undertaking prescribed burning across 8-10 % of forested landscapes per year.

Number 4 relates to reducing the focus on bushfire suppression and big plane fleets at the expense of fire mitigation. There are large economic costs of this approach.

Number 5 is to consider adopting approaches being used in the USA in relation to fire adapted communities, Firewise, local fire safe councils, the Ready, Set, Go! Program, improved funding to reduce fuel loads, undertaking prescribed burning, forest thinning and community involvement in fire management all need to be considered for Australia, but aren't being. To be frank, most communities in Australia are not adequately protected.

Number 6 is to undertake whole catchment approaches/hydraulic flood studies to assist in flood mitigation planning, these important studies are underway in a number of NSW north coast river catchments.

Number 7 is to consider adopting innovative flood approaches such as room for the river program undertaken on 30 flood mitigation projects in the Netherlands and other areas across the world, undertaken in a sustainable manner to reduce flood impacts on communities.

Number 8 is to urgently review increasing cost of living insurance rises across Australia and the solutions available in relation to natural disaster funding and costs.

Number 9 is to apply greater mitigation funding to those areas/ regions that are suffering from large increases in insurances due to natural disasters and which are where insurances are becoming unaffordable.

It is important that Federal, state and local governments as well as Treasury and finance departments address these concerns and opportunities about easing cost-of-living pressures without stoking inflation.