The Insurance Council of Australia will press the case for increased flood defence spending with new Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino and National Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain, who were sworn in this morning.

“Under this new government, insurers look forward to a continued focus on identifying high-risk catchments and investment in resilience and mitigation to reduce those risks,” CEO Andrew Hall said.

ICA says the appointment of Dr Mulino – who has also become Assistant Treasurer – shows the Prime Minister takes seriously the contribution financial services make to the economy and the lives of Australians. 

“Dr Mulino has a deep understanding of the challenges facing insurers and their customers through his work chairing the parliamentary flood inquiry in the last term, and we look forward to continuing our work in this area over the next three years,” Mr Hall said.

ICA’s pre-election platform called for a 10-year Flood Defence Fund worth $30 billion. It also proposed making the $200 million-a-year Disaster Ready Fund an inflation-indexed 10-year rolling program. 

Ms McBain will oversee the National Emergency Management Agency, which administers the Disaster Ready Found and provides the secretariat for the government and industry Hazards Insurance Partnership. She additionally holds the role of Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories.

ICA has also welcomed the reappointment of Chris Bowen as Climate Change Minister and says it looks forward to working with Housing Minister Clare O’Neil on lenders’ mortgage insurance impacts from a proposed expansion of the Home Guarantee Scheme.

The expansion – allowing house buyers to access loans with a 5% deposit without LMI – would “have significant impacts on the stability of the financial system through its effective nationalisation of first home buyer mortgage default risk”, ICA says. 

The National Insurance Brokers Association says it looks forward to engaging with Dr Mulino on policy priorities central to broking and the risk and financial services landscape.

“Dr Mulino brings a strong policy background to a portfolio that is vital to Australiaʼs economic resilience and consumer protection framework,” CEO Richard Klipin said.

He says NIBA is particularly focused on working with the minister on the governmentʼs response to the 2022 floods inquiry.

“The inquiry highlighted significant challenges in claims handling, particularly in times of crisis,” Mr Klipin said. “Brokers are deeply involved in supporting clients throughout the claims process, and their perspective is essential to improving outcomes and rebuilding trust in the insurance system.”