Farmers for Climate Action, an organisation representing more than 8,000 Australian farmers, has expressed concern over the rising insurance costs farmers have to bear as a result of the worsening climate change situation.
The concern comes in the wake of a new report published by the Actuaries Institute which fouhd that the median home insurance premiums are up 28 per cent in the year to March 31, the biggest increase in 20 years and that people in flood-prone areas are facing price hikes of up to 50 per cent.
The actuaries noted that part of the increase was due to higher building supply costs, but it was also “driven by climate change impacts we’re already seeing.”
Prior to this, a report published last week by consumer group Choice found that 87 per cent of policyholders in Australia have seen insurance premiums rise, and two in five people reported having their homes impacted by an extreme weather event in the last five years.
Ulmarra farmer and Farmers for Climate Action member Peter Lake also chimed in, saying that climate change has made floods on his northern New South Wales farm more frequent and severe, and made his farm insurance unaffordable.
“We’ve dealt with major floods in 2009, 2011, 2013, and 2021 but nothing could have prepared us for February 2022. We lost fences and fodder and were forced to sell most of our stock. Even when the waters receded we were flood free but not mud free. We battled mud for months,” he said.
Luke added, “I was quoted $19 000 per year to insure my farm which is just too much. We’ve had to weigh up not insuring our farm equipment, sheds and fences. We’re only insuring the house and a horse float now. To stop the costs of climate change going higher we need urgent action to reduce emissions, including from coal, oil and gas, right now, this decade.”
