Context Many Australian communities experience repeated disruptions from flood, cyclone and fire events. These events damage both private property and public infrastructure. The growing urbanisation of our coast line and mountain districts near our cities, and economic growth in Northern Australia have combined to increase our exposure to natural disaster risk. Since 2007, natural disasters have claimed more than 200 lives and directly affected hundreds of thousands of Australians. Deloitte Access Economics estimates that the total economic cost of disasters for 2012 alone exceeded $6 billion. It predicts total economic costs will double by 2030, and will ‘rise to an average of $23 billion per year by 2050, even without any consideration of the potential impact of climate change’. Under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA), the Australian Government will provide over $12 billion in financial assistance to the states and territories to assist in rebuilding communities damaged by natural disasters that have occurred since 2006. By the end of 2015–16, it is estimated that $10 billion of this assistance will have been spent on restoring essential public assets—mostly roads. With future events not yet taken into account, there is the potential for significant growth in this expenditure. The risks posed by extreme weather events could be mitigated in part by designing new infrastructure to withstand extreme weather conditions; building protective infrastructure (such as levees); or by building back assets to a disaster-resilient standard, to avoid repeated damage. The benefits associated with investing in disaster mitigation are widely accepted, and include a reduction in loss of life, improved community safety, a reduction in damage to property, speedier recovery, and a reduction in the cost to the national economy. The 2002 Council of Australian Governments Review conservatively estimated that for every dollar invested in flood mitigation, more than two is saved. The issues raised in this submission will likely overlap with issues to be considered in the recently announced Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements. Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements State and territory governments (states) have primary responsibility for managing disaster recovery within their jurisdictions. The states and territories receive financial support from the Commonwealth via the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
Context Many Australian communities experience repeated disruptions from flood, cyclone and fire events. These events damage both private property and public infrastructure. The growing urbanisation of our coast line and mountain districts near our cities, and economic growth in Northern Australia have combined to increase our exposure to natural disaster risk. Since 2007, natural disasters have claimed more than 200 lives and directly affected hundreds of thousands of Australians. Deloitte Access Economics estimates that the total economic cost of disasters for 2012 alone exceeded $6 billion. It predicts total economic costs will double by 2030, and will ‘rise to an average of $23 billion per year by 2050, even without any consideration of the potential impact of climate change’. Under the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA), the Australian Government will provide over $12 billion in financial assistance to the states and territories to assist in rebuilding communities damaged by natural disasters that have occurred since 2006. By the end of 2015–16, it is estimated that $10 billion of this assistance will have been spent on restoring essential public assets—mostly roads. With future events not yet taken into account, there is the potential for significant growth in this expenditure. The risks posed by extreme weather events could be mitigated in part by designing new infrastructure to withstand extreme weather conditions; building protective infrastructure (such as levees); or by building back assets to a disaster-resilient standard, to avoid repeated damage. The benefits associated with investing in disaster mitigation are widely accepted, and include a reduction in loss of life, improved community safety, a reduction in damage to property, speedier recovery, and a reduction in the cost to the national economy. The 2002 Council of Australian Governments Review conservatively estimated that for every dollar invested in flood mitigation, more than two is saved. The issues raised in this submission will likely overlap with issues to be considered in the recently announced Productivity Commission Inquiry into Natural Disaster Funding Arrangements. Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements State and territory governments (states) have primary responsibility for managing disaster recovery within their jurisdictions. The states and territories receive financial support from the Commonwealth via the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA).
sub101-infrastructure.docx