Nationals Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland says a new national report has vindicated what her community has been saying for nine months: Victoria’s disaster recovery system is failing regional families.
The Insurance Council of Australia’s A Safer and Stronger Victoria report, released this week, calls on the next Victorian Government to establish a centrally coordinated, state-led clean-up and recovery model for bushfires and other disasters – and to cut stamp duty on home, contents and business insurance.
It comes after Ms Cleeland used a scathing attack in Parliament this week to lay bare the failures of Emergency Management Victoria’s response to the January bushfires.
Ms Cleeland told Parliament that of more than 600 individuals who registered for the clean-up program, only 240 were deemed eligible – and after nearly five months, just 30 of those properties had been cleaned up.
Ms Cleeland contrasted that with the Black Summer bushfires in 2019-2020, where all 736 registrations for the clean-up program were deemed eligible and cleaned up within eight months.
“This is not a difficult comparison to make about how dysfunctional this program and the response from EMV and the Carroll Labor Government has been,” Ms Cleeland said.
“It is the difference between a functioning recovery agency and a failing one.
“People in our community have spent nine months asking the Labor Government for basic support to rebuild their lives after the January bushfires,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Now the ICA is saying Victoria needs a centrally coordinated, state-led clean-up and recovery model. That should be a wake-up call for this Government.”
Ms Cleeland said the findings were particularly relevant to communities across Strathbogie and Mitchell Shires still rebuilding after the January fires.
“We have seen firsthand what happens when there isn’t enough government leadership after a disaster. People are being told they’re eligible for help, only to wait more than seven months for it to arrive.
“The Labor Government cannot keep talking about resilience while leaving communities to pick up the pieces themselves.”
The report also calls for Victoria to abolish stamp duty on insurance, arguing it would ease cost pressures on households already facing rising premiums.
“Victorians shouldn’t be slugged with another tax simply for trying to protect their home and family,” Ms Cleeland said.
“People in regional Victoria know the cost of insurance is going up — and they know exactly how important that cover is when disaster strikes.”
The ICA’s data also showed Victoria recorded more than 12,300 insurance claims for stolen or broken-into vehicles in 2025–26, costing insurers $244 million, along with 3,900 burglary claims costing a further $56 million. A vehicle was stolen or broken into roughly every 43 minutes across the state.
“Crime doesn’t just cost the person whose car is stolen or whose home is broken into — it feeds into the cost of insurance for everyone,” Ms Cleeland said.
“Regional Victorians need a government that’s prepared before disaster strikes, acts decisively when it does, and stands with communities for the long recovery that follows. The ICA has put practical solutions on the table – the question now is whether the Labor Government will actually listen.”
