The Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) has welcomed Federal Opposition Leader, Peter Dutton’s election commitment to make insurance more affordable – and has called on the Federal Government to make the same pledge.
“Insurance is a critical cost of living issue that councils have been raising on behalf of their communities for a number of years,” said LGAQ CEO, Alison Smith.
“We have presented a suite of measures to make insurance more affordable and available for Queensland communities to all parties and candidates standing at the Federal election.
“Increasing the affordability and availability of insurance statewide – including for households, strata title holders and businesses is critical to our communities, no matter where they are in what is Australia’s most natural disaster-prone state.”
She said Queensland councils want the next Federal Government to take action to reduce the skyrocketing costs of insurance in the community with greater transparency in the setting of premiums, taking into account resilience and natural hazard mitigation measures when setting insurance premiums; increase the affordability and availability of insurance statewide – including for households, strata title holders and businesses; and undertake a holistic review that makes changes to the Australian Cyclone Reinsurance Pool to extend the claims period for cyclone and flood related damage and expands the criteria.
“We thank Peter Dutton for his commitment, and look forward to Labor also committing to measures to make insurance more available and affordable for Queensland communities,” Ms Smith said.
As part of its Federal election campaign, the LGAQ has released a suite of measures that would deliver real, on the ground support for communities and their residents that would deliver a $73.8 billion dividend to the Queensland economy and more than 105,000 jobs.
The Association is asking all candidates in the 2025 Federal Election to “put local communities first and enhance community liveability” by committing to measures including:
- Increasing untied funding to all councils to at least 1 per cent of Commonwealth taxation revenue, indexed annually and with payment timing certainty;
- Establishing a new allocative, permanent funding program to build and maintain essential community infrastructure;
- Implementing a new tripartite agreement between all three levels of government that ends the cost shifting onto local governments;
- Reviewing opportunities to utilise existing heads of power to increase direct funding to councils;
- Supporting councils stepping in to provide childcare due to market failure through a dedicated, sustainable and allocative funding program;
- Reinstating the 80:20 infrastructure funding split, allowing councils to submit directly to Infrastructure Australia and implementing the remainder of the LGAQ recommendations to the Federal Inquiry into the Sustainability of the Local Government Sector;
- Addressing overcrowding and support economic development in remote and discrete communities with a new bilateral First Nations housing funding agreement with the Queensland Government;
- Increasing the affordability and availability of insurance statewide – including for households, strata title holders and businesses;
- Supporting communities impacted by the energy transition, through locally led solutions, direct funding and a local government voice on the Net Zero Economy Authority board;
- Extending funding for an ongoing, voluntary home buy-back program;
- Deleting the digital divide by prioritising investment into regional, rural and remote areas that are currently underserved by telecommunications providers; and
- Partnering with Queensland’s Reef councils to deliver the Reef Councils’ Rescue Plan’s five key initiatives: Climate Resilience and Risk, Cleaner Wastewater, Cleaner Stormwater, Cleaner Road Runoff and Healthy and Resilient Landscapes.
The full LGAQ Federal Election platform can be found here.
