Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Hansard source

He is a very intelligent man who I have some time and respect for, but to say that a five per cent reduction from a CPRS in Australia is going to reduce global sea levels, in an act of biblical proportions, is something that he may well regret. I hope he clarifies that remark when he gets to speak on this report later. My point is, though, that there is no single action that will bring about the improved resilience and sustainability of our coastal environments, that there are challenges we face and that there is no silver bullet that will address that—certainly not a five per cent CPRS reduction.

The other thing that needs to be recognised is that there are some challenges that need to be worked on further, and there are a number of recommendations that call for further reviews and further work. Some comments have pointed to local government not knowing quite what is going on, and I am pleased that, at least in the communities that I represent, there is a high level of alertness around this topic among the municipal councils that I am involved with. In fact, in other areas throughout Victoria, particularly in Gippsland and the like, they are quite activated by it. Individuals are seeing development opportunities denied them because of concerns about rising sea levels.

My friend Greg Sugars, the Chief Executive of Opteon Property Group, which is Australia’s largest independent property valuer, has released a statement in response to this report being released, and he quite rightly points to the fact that in the commercial area, particularly if the recommendation about insurance schemes led by the Commonwealth and other areas of what I would call foggy law are addressed, there is a real need to engage the professions. Even if you had a nationally inspired insurance scheme, how you would value and price the risk to have policies available and then price the harm or damage that might activate a claim against those policies is very uncharted territory.

Mr Sugars points out that his company and his alliance of property valuers around Australia do nearly a quarter of a million valuations per year for mortgage lenders. That valuation and the certainty that it provides gives comfort to lenders in offering finance, as mortgages, to homebuyers. Those clients will be watching very closely to see what happens to the value of properties and what impact that will have on the ability to attract finance in coastal areas. He emphasises:

One of the key issues will be to provide accurate advice on values of the potentially affected properties, especially if the government looks at a compulsory land insurance scheme.

Valuers will also need to familiarise themselves with any changing planning implications and carefully assess any future insurance considerations when undertaking replacement cost exercises.

In some cases a recommendation is that replacement not proceed where there is a high degree of vulnerability as assessed by some of the tools that are recommended in this report.

In closing, I welcome this report and found it a really interesting read, capturing a number of issues that emphasise the need for sustained, coordinated, collaborative action. There is no single solution to remedy these concerns. I have great admiration for the committee and the members that generated the report. I had the good fortune of working with them over a number of years and I recognise the diligence with which they go about their work. My last point is, though, that this is something that needs hard work and rigour, not headlines and statements of political rhetoric. It actually needs someone to put their shoulder to the wheel. I am confident that the coalition is very interested in this. As part of our broader strategy to improve the sustainability of our economy and of the built environment, this is very valuable input. I congratulate the committee for its work and look forward to the government’s response, whenever that might be forthcoming.

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