MEDIA RELEASE
June 30, 2025
TOWNSVILLE DEMANDS TO BE HEARD IN CYCLONE REINSURANCE POOL REVIEW
The Albanese Labor Government and Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation (ARPC) are under pressure to visit Townsville and hear first-hand from locals about the devastating impact of sky-rocketing insurance premiums.
Federal Member for Hebert Phillip Thompson said it is critical that those people who are tasked with representing the interests of North Queenslanders truly understand the atrocity of the situation.
“Many people across my Electorate of Herbert are now forced to forego home, contents, vehicle and business insurance because they face the very real prospect of not being able to put food on the table if they continue to pay ever-rising, exorbitant premiums. This situation is simply unacceptable,” Mr Thompson said.
“The Australian Government’s legislative review into the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool gets underway on July 1 and it is an absolute no-brainer that the review should include direct feedback from those people who are being let down.
“The Cyclone Reinsurance Pool was launched by ARPC in 2022, with its own website stating it is “intended to help make insurance more affordable and more available in areas with medium to high cyclone risk”. Clearly, ARPC is failing in its original intent and urgent changes need to be made.”
Mr. Thompson has advocated for reform that includes:
- Legislative changes that take varying insurer “approaches” off the table and deliver mandatory compliance of meaningful cost savings;
- The implementation of a real-time data dashboard on the ARPC website that shows what cost savings are being passed on by each insurer; and
- Easy to access consumer information and community engagement by the ARPC around ACCC reporting. It is simply unfeasible to think that the onus should be on locals to sift through a 94-page ACCC report to better understand what is occurring within an initiative supposed to make lives better.
“Over the past weeks, I have heard from locals who have been forced to put their home on the market because they can’t afford insurance any longer. One person received a renewal notice with a 28-thousand-dollar increase,” Mr Thompson said.
“Insurance companies are making up their own rules and it’s time their feet were put to the fire and savings from the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool passed on to consumers.
“I’m keen to work collaboratively with the Australian Government and ARPC and have invited both parties to Townsville to hear first-hand from locals so that we can deliver real solutions to this crisis.”