In the summer of 2010-11, devastating floods hit Queensland, killing 33 people, causing billions of dollars in damage, shutting coal mines, and knocking an estimated $30 billion off GDP. The then Labor government’s promise of a budget surplus was washed away too.
Fast forward to the devastating bushfires of 2019-20 and a very similar picture emerges. While ground zero was further south, both disasters wreaked havoc on export industries and regional tourism, and cost the budget billions.
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Dr Richard Denniss is chief economist at The Australia Institute, a Canberra think tank.
