The housing crisis in Victoria is very real. But while we need more houses, those houses must be safe, comfortable and insurable. Without home and contents insurance, people face potential financial ruin – and even homelessness – in the face of disaster. While insurance regulation is a federal issue and is overseen by APRA, the state has jurisdiction over planning and flood risk management.
Local residents are up in arms about the proposed Rossdale Golf Course rezoning, as well as the Kingswood Golf Course – and I stand with them.
Extreme weather events are estimated to cost Australia $4.5 Billion per year, and almost half of the losses that result from them are uninsured. The most likely people to be uninsured (and, to need low- cost housing) are people from vulnerable communities. A lack of affordable housing affects poor and working-class people most. The solution is not to offer them housing they may not be able to insure.
To add insult to injury, the Government’s new planning laws will no doubt actively incentivise the construction of fast, cheap and poor-quality houses. The people of the South-east deserve better – to live in houses that are well-built and will house them and their families for many decades. Building quick and cheap housing on a floodplain is quite simply beyond comprehension.
Quotes attributable to Rachel Payne:
“We need more affordable housing. But the solution is not to build cookie-cutter houses, in locations
insurers don’t want a bar of.”
“Why is the government entertaining the plan to rezone Rossdale golf course, which lures first home buyers into housing they might not be able to insure?”
“When I am out in the community I get told constantly about rising insurance premiums. My own premiums have gone through the roof and I wonder how on earth people can afford it. The sad reality is that many can’t and will now be totally uninsured.”
Published 10th of December 2025.
Related:
- Rossdale Golf Course development proposal lands over par
- Rossdale golf course redevelopment threatens biodiversity
