Greater Whitsunday Alliance welcomes $10b insurance guarantee announcement

Greater Whitsunday Alliance (GW3) has welcomed the announcement the Federal Government has established a reinsurance pool to cover cyclone and related flood damage in Northern Australia from July 1, 2022.

GW3 has kept a spotlight on the issue of residential and commercial insurance since 2017 through a number of joint submissions with Regional Development Australia Mackay Isaac Whitsunday (RDAMIW) to the ACCC Inquiry into Regional Insurance Affordability.

GW3 chief executive officer Ms Kylie Porter said the announcement was an important win for the Mackay Isaac Whitsunday (MIW) region which is home to 188,000 residents and has an annual economic output of more than $43 billion. 

“GW3 has been instrumental in advocating for regional insurance affordability and has continued to shine a spotlight on the issue across industry, as well as with the Queensland Government and the Commonwealth. 

“Unaffordable business, residential and strata insurance is a major challenge for the liveability and prosperity for many regions in Northern Australia.

“GW3 is pleased that our continued efforts to make insurance affordable for not just the MIW region but across Northern Australia now has a tangible solution.”

The reinsurance pool is aimed to reduce insurance premiums across Northern Australia by more than $1.5 billion over the next ten years with more than 500,000 households, strata and small business eligible to access the reinsurance pool. 

Ms Porter said the region has been resilient in the aftermath of numerous natural disasters in the past decade.

“This news is peace of mind for our region’s residents and businesses and come July 2022, hopefully financial relief will start to flow to consumers with lower premiums,” Ms Porter said.

This week’s announcement comes five months after the ACC final report which bought together 38 recommendations.  GW3 will continue to lobby and advocate for the other recommendations to be adopted.

Greater Whitsunday Alliance is the region’s peak independent economic development body committed to making the Mackay Isaac Whitsunday region strong for generations.

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