NATURAL DISASTERS – AUSTRALIA

Practical focus for fire inquiry

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Rosie Lewis, Rachel Baxendale, David Ross, Sarah Elks, Yoni Bashan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-Feb-20

The federal government has released the terms of reference for its bushfires royal commission, which will be headed by former defence force chief Mark Binskin. The six-month inquiry’s focus will be on natural disaster management and improving Australia’s resilience to natural disasters. Labor and the Greens have criticised the government for excluding policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions from the inquiry’s terms of reference.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Massive clean-up bill set to top $320m

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Ferguson
The Australian – Page: 4 : 22-Jan-20

Insurers are facing another hit in the wake of the bushfires crisis, with storms wreaking havoc in several states on 20 January. Some 29,000 claims for storm damage have been received to date, including more than 16,000 arising from a hailstorm in Canberra. A hailstorm in New South Wales has also resulted in about 2,900 insurance claims, while storms and flash flooding in Victoria have prompted more than 9,800 claims.

CORPORATES
INSURANCE COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Convene COAG over disasters: Albanese

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Joe Kelly
The Australian – Page: 4 : 25-Nov-19

Labor leader Anthony Albanese has called for an emergency meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in the wake of deadly bushfires. He says the agenda for a COAG meeting should include Australia’s preparedness for natural disasters, the development of an action plan on adaptation to climate change, and increased investment in research on natural disaster response, recovery and mitigation. The federal government will provide grants of up to $15,000 to assist farmers and small businesses to recover from the recent bushfires in New South Wales.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENTS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF AGRICULTURE AND WATER RESOURCES, NEW SOUTH WALES. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Insurance shambles left homes in danger

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 17 & 21 : 20-Sep-18

The banking royal commission has heard evidence from customers of budget insurer Youi who had lodged insurance claims for storm damage to their homes. Amongst other things, the inquiry was told that Youi has yet to authorise repairs to a home in Queensland that was damaged by Cyclone Debbie in March 2017. Jason Storey, the chief operating officer of claims handling at Youi, conceded that the insurer lacks sufficient resources to cope with major natural disasters.

CORPORATES
YOUI PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. ROYAL COMMISSION INTO MISCONDUCT IN THE BANKING, SUPERANNUATION AND FINANCIAL SERVICES INDUSTRY, RAND MERCHANT INSURANCE HOLDINGS GROUP LIMITED, NEW SOUTH WALES. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AUTHORITY

Suncorp insures itself against more storms

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sally Rose
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 & 20 : 5-Aug-16

Suncorp Group has reported an 8.3 per cent decline in net profit for 2015-16, to $A1.04 billion. Michael Cameron, the CEO of the Australian-listed insurance group, stated on 4 August 2016 that Suncorp has increased its reinsurance protection by $A300 million because of the higher frequency of weather-related events. Shares in Suncorp rose 0.7 per cent to $A13.30.

CORPORATES
SUNCORP GROUP LIMITED – ASX SUN, MAPLE-BROWN ABBOTT LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SUNCORP LIFE AND SUPERANNUATION LIMITED, ASTERON LIFE LIMITED, CONTANGO ASSET MANAGEMENT LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX ALL ORDINARIES INDEX