Insurance Council Chief Executive, Tim Grafton, today addressed the Society of Local Government Managers on “Protecting New Zealand from Natural Hazards” following an ICNZ 15-point plan to reduce the social and economic impact of natural hazards released late last year.
The Protecting New Zealand from Natural Hazards is an Insurance Council paper aimed at decision makers with recommendations that include:
- Strategy and legislation – establishing a dedicated agency within the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to oversee/co-ordinate national strategy, review legislation to ensure risk management is aligned and focused on reducing risk, take the long view on development decisions, plan to address local hazards
- Funding – committing to long-term, annual funding to build resilience, funding now saves money later
- Keeping insurance affordable – reduce the risks now and remove unnecessary levies, but premium signals often incremental/weak
- Information to make the right decisions – science research, high quality data, hazard identification of every property, be clear about what risks are acceptable, calculate cost-benefit trade-offs, consistent approach across NZ, public and business education
Download full ICNZ presentation to SOLGM (PDF 2MB)
Download the paper Protecting New Zealand from Natural Hazards (PDF 409KB)