QBE chairman Mike Wilkins said state government insurance taxes raised $3.5 billion more than the entire industry’s profits in 2024 and cutting them would be the fastest way to bring relief to customers hit with higher premiums from the rising costs of cleaning up after natural disasters.

At the annual general meeting on Friday, Wilkins criticised policymakers for spending 97 per cent of disaster funding on recovery after catastrophes and only 3 per cent on mitigation projects, like building dams and levies. “That balance must shift. It’s simply not sustainable, economically or socially, to continue down this path,” he said.