George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

One of the starkest examples of the seriousness of the insurance crisis in North Queensland is that of an aged-care home in my electorate that has recently been hit with a 1,000 per cent premium increase. They battle on at present, but they face an insurance bill they'll not be able to pay. The consequence could be that we could have 250 aged residents, some of them our most vulnerable citizens, who will lose the aged-care service they depend upon.

The Assistant Treasurer heard this horror story as well as many others when he travelled to North Queensland, at my invitation, to hear directly from those affected in Mackay, the Whitsundays and Townsville. We've hit crisis point. Home and unit holders, those in strata title, businesses and hospitality operators are all facing premiums that they can't afford. Some simply can't get insurance at all. The Assistant Treasurer sat down with the insurance industry representatives afterwards to ask them how they can justify the situation. I'm glad to say that they have acknowledged the problem and have agreed to work with the government to look at the option of a re-insurance pool for North Queensland. I thank the Assistant Treasurer for his work on this critical issue, and I encourage other North Queenslanders to come forward with their stories at www.nq insurance.com.au.

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