'Better flood insurance system needed' - Queensland Premier Anna Bligh
From: AAP January 16, 2011 9:59AM Increase Text Size Decrease Text Size Print Email Share
QUEENSLAND Premier Anna Bligh would like to see a better system developed so Australians have better insurance protection against flood disasters.
Last week both Ms Bligh and Prime Minister Julia Gillard urged insurance companies to be flexible when processing the thousands of claims being lodged for flood damage.
But the Insurance Council of Australia noted that not all insurance policies would cover policyholders for the type of flood event that has ravaged vast areas of Queensland.
Ms Bligh said that Queensland Treasurer Andrew Fraser would speak to the Federal Government about the situation.
"It's hard to believe that Australia can't do better than this. When you see the scale of this and understand the havoc and heartache this has brought, it is hard to believe we can't find a better system," she told Channel Seven's Weekend program.
"There are some big policy questions out of this. Now we've got the immediate response dealt with we can start to look at those big issues."
Ms Bligh said many people had paid their insurance premiums believing they were covered for floods and "now they find this is the wrong kind of flood".
