2025-04-15
Greens Deputy Leader and Spokesperson for Climate Adaptation and Resilience, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has commented on a new Climate Council report, At Our Front Door: Escalating Climate Risks for Aussie Homes. More than two million properties are already at moderate to high risk of worsening extreme weather driven by climate pollution. The report finds that past failures to cut climate pollution has resulted in more properties being put in harm’s way, and rising insurance costs for everyone. It also makes the point that we can’t insure our way out of the climate crisis: we must cut climate pollution, fast.
The report identifies the areas most at-risk of climate-driven disasters, with NSW having the highest number of electorates at high risk, and the marginal seat of Richmond identified as the most at-risk electorate, with almost a third of properties (over 31,000) in the electorate characterised as high-risk, that is, where there is a significant risk of insurance becoming unaffordable or withdrawn entirely due to the high risk of damage from extreme weather.
Also in the top five is the Greens-held seat of Brisbane, with almost 20,000 properties in the electorate identified as high-risk.
With an election less than three weeks away, the Greens are the only party with a plan to tackle the climate crisis and protect our environment, communities and homes.
Lines attributable to Senator Mehreen Faruqi:
“We are already in a housing crisis, and the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-driven disasters is only going to make this worse as more and more homes become uninsurable and uninhabitable.
“People are buckling under the combined stresses of the housing and insurance crises and the trauma of climate disasters destroying their homes and lives.
“It should be climate polluting fossil fuel companies paying for the damage, clean up and aftermath of climate fuelled disasters, not families, communities, renters and retirees who are bearing the brunt of the housing and climate crisis.
“The Climate Council report reinforces what scientists and people on the front line of climate disasters have been demanding - the strongest action to tackle the climate emergency is needed urgently. That means no new fossil fuels.
“In the middle of a climate crisis, the Labor government’s decision to approve over 30 coal and gas projects and Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan to destroy Australia’s renewable energy industry is only pouring fuel on a fire that is already burning out of control with so many homes at risk.
“In the next parliament, the Greens will keep Dutton out and get Labor to act on ending new coal and gas and protecting our communities from climate breakdown.
“We’re heading to the polls in just a few weeks, and time and again the major parties have shown that they aren’t serious about tackling either the climate or the housing crisis. The Greens are the only party with a plan that puts the planet and people before profit.”
Read more about the Greens plan for Powering Past Coal & Gas.
Read more about the Greens plan for Cheaper Insurance in a Climate Crisis.
Lines attributable to Mandy Nolan, Greens candidate for Richmond:
"This data confirms what people in this region already know first hand - the climate crisis is making insurance unaffordable.
"We need big polluters to start contributing to the cost of insurance, instead of sending our community into financial hardship - and for some people - into homelessness.
"We've had the same Labor MP for twenty years and Labor has approved over 30 new coal and gas projects. We can't keep adding fuel to the fire. I only need a 1.8% swing to win, to keep Dutton out and push Labor to act on the climate crisis and stop approving new coal and gas projects."
Lines attributable to Stephen Bates MP, Greens MP for Brisbane:
“My electorate Brisbane — my home — has just had its third "once-in-a-generation" weather event in just 15 years.
“The best thing we can do is take urgent action to stop climate change by stopping new coal and gas mining. Storms, floods, fires, and heatwaves are all already regular features in our lives and worsening climate change will make them happen more often.
“We can't afford to keep putting off the solutions or ignoring the problem altogether. We need to stop tinkering at the edges. Our homes are already uninsurable or the premiums are so high they might as well be.
“Our cities are relying on the goodwill of everyday people to clean up after a disaster. People who are already stretched to breaking point. The burden of protecting our communities can’t fall on the shoulders of everyday people alone.”
Footnote
Of the 10 most at-risk electorates, five are located in NSW. NSW also has 263,587 properties identified as high risk, which is significantly higher than the number in all other states (QLD is second with 167,757)