The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) today welcomes the formation of the second Albanese Government ministry and looks forward to progressing work with the Government to advance Australia's resilience.
The ICA worked closely with the Albanese Government in its first term to establish the Disaster Ready Fund, which significantly uplifted investment in resilience and mitigation spending.
Insurers also worked closely with the Government on addressing Australia's most severe weather risk, flood, through the Hazards Insurance Partnership.
Uplifting community resilience to extreme weather remains the priority for insurers during the second term of government.
The ICA warmly welcomes the appointment of the new Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Dr Daniel Mulino, who brings a wealth of experience to the role including from his role as Chair of the House Economics Committee.
The ICA also welcomes the appointment of Kristy McBain as the Minister for Emergency Management. The ICA looks forward to working with both ministers on our proposal for a 10-year Flood Defense Fund worth $30 billion to build the critical infrastructure needed to protect communities from extreme weather and improve insurance affordability.
Climate change remains a pressing social, economic, and political issue and we welcome the reappointment of Chris Bowen as Minister for Climate Change.
The ICA also looks forward to working with the Minister for Housing, Clare O'Neil on the Government's proposal to expand the Home Guarantee Scheme, which would have significant impacts on the stability of the financial system through its effective nationalisation of first homebuyer mortgage default risk.
Quote attributable to ICA CEO Andrew Hall:
Insurance is a fundamental part of a healthy economy, and its sustainability is essential to giving people security and peace of mind.
The industry continues to face high inflation in the building and motor sectors, the impacts of climate change on exreme weather, skills and workforce shortages, among other issues putting pressure on insurance affordability.
Under this new Government, insurers look forward to a continued focus on identifying high-risk catchments and investment in resilience and mitigation to reduce those risks.
In particular, the appointment of Dr Daniel Mulino as Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services signals that the Prime Minister and his Government takes seriously the important contribution financial services make to the economy and to the lives of millions of Australians.
Dr Mulino has a deep understanding of the challenges facing insurers and their customers through his work chairing the Parliamentary Flood Inquiry in the last term, and we look forward to continuing our work in this area over the next three years.
