Qld election 2024: One Nation fires early shot on insurance stamp duty

A hidden tax on insurance policies shouldered by Queenslanders will soon raise nearly $1.5bn a year by mid-2025, government data has revealed.

A hidden tax on insurance policies shouldered by Queenslanders will soon raise nearly $1.5bn a year by mid-2025, government data has revealed.

And with the state boasting the highest home cover premiums in the country, one minor party has vowed to push the government to drop the 9 per cent stamp duty on general insurance if it has the balance of power at the next election.

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, in its first salvo ahead of the 2024 poll, has signalled it will again be running candidates across all 93 state electorates, with cost of living and crime to be a major focus.

Queenslanders pay stamp duty on their home, contents, or strata insurance premiums, with the tax set to raise about $1.5bn by mid-2025, according to Treasury estimates.

It comes as insurance premiums in the state rose to an average of $3032 this year, accord­ing to an Actuaries Institute report, with costs borne by residents the highest behind only the Northern Territory.

One Nation powerbroker James Ashby said many people would be “unaware of the additional 9 per cent tax that’s often buried in the breakdown of each insurance policy”.

“This adds up quickly when most households hold policies for their home, cars, boat and trailer,” he said.

One Nation’s James Ashby

“We must do everything we can to keep insurance costs down.

“There’s a big risk that if we don’t, we’ll see more people reduce or abandon their coverage.”

Mr Ashby, whose own home insurance premium nearly doubled this year compared to 2022, said he had been told the risk of extreme weather and crime in Yeppoon, where he lives, had added to the increased costs.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has previously called for stamp duties to be removed from home, contents and strata insurance after it investigated the market in northern Australia.

An Insurance Council of Australia spokesman said insurance prices risk and premiums increased commensurate with the risk of insured assets getting stolen.

“In general, insurance premium increases in Queensland are being driven by external factors including the impact of extreme weather events, inflation and the growing cost of reinsurance,” he said.

Acting Treasurer Stirling Hinchliffe said insurance affordability was a national issue, and the state government was substantially investing in resilience measures in disaster-prone areas to put downward pressure on premiums.