Australians push to ban floodway housing, two thirds reject premium hikes

Queensland floodwaters surround homes in 2025. Picture: NewsWire/Adam Head. Australians are sick of paying rising insurance premiums to support those living in flood-prone areas, with two thirds now either unwilling or unsure about doing so. Instead the nation’s property owners want to fight floods with pre-emptive measures and block development in regions that have elevated risk of inundation, putting a new demand on local, state and federal governments to overhaul planning — and bankroll defenses. New research by insurance firm Youi, that surveyed more than 1200 people around the country, has revealed the preferred option for supporting those in flood-risk areas via increased premium costs was to not subsidise them at all. RELATED: Urgent home upgrades needed to prevent $181bn Aus bushfire toll Rising seas to smash Aussie homes in $855bn economic disaster Surging insurance costs push millions to risk going without cover A whopping 52 per cent of South Australians would prefer to pay no extra cost in their insurance, followed by Western Australians at 50.9 per cent, Queenslanders, 49 per cent, Tasmanians at 43.5 per cent, Victorians at 43.2 per cent, and those in NSW, 42.5 per cen...