Call for big change to cyclone zones after Cyclone Alfred weather batters NSW

The unusually southern hit Tropical Cyclone Alfred made has sparked a call for a huge shake-up to Australian home building.

The threat of cyclones hitting unusually south has sparked a call for the threat zone to be pushed south all the way to NSW.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred hit southeastern Queensland islands off Brisbane on Saturday, the furthest south a cyclone has ventured in 50 years.

The federal government has a $10bn-a-year cyclone reinsurance pool, to protect people in northern Queensland and Western Australia, as insurance is prohibitively expensive for those in the traditional cyclone alleys.

Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean says the cyclone threat is moving further south. Picture: ABC

But the unusually southern threat of Tropical Cyclone Alfred has prompted calls for cyclone-strength houses to be built further south, into NSW.

“Today, cyclone building codes only apply to properties north of Bundaberg,” Climate Change Authority chair, Matt Kean, said on Q+A on Monday.

“The reality is that with warming sea surface temperatures, it’s creating tropical cyclone-like conditions about 100km south of there.

“So we need to be thinking about whether we apply those building codes as far down as the NSW north coast.

“So governments not only need to do their bit to reduce emissions but we need to adapt our policies to ensure we can deal with these changes in our climatic weather events.”

Alfred, which quickly became a low after crossing over the mainland, has brought days of heavy rains and flooding from Hervey Bay in Queensland to Lismore in northern NSW.

Q+A panellist and former NSW state Liberal treasurer Matt Kean (centre) took aim at the Coalition’s nuclear policy/15. Picture" ABC

‘I’m not antinuclear, but I am anti-nonsense’

Private investment for nuclear energy is seriously lacking, Mr Kean said.

The convoluted argument about small and medium modular nuclear reactors reared its head on Q+A again on Monday.

Liberal Party senator Hollie Hughes defended her party’s nuclear plans, however added Peter Dutton’s party was “technologically agnostic”.

“What we’re seeing, though, is this absolute ideological opposition to anything that is not renewables. We are seeing investment move away from green hydrogen at a rate of knots,” she said.

“We are technologically agnostic and people will invest in what is the best technology.”

The Climate Change Authority boss quickly shot down the claim the Liberal Party was technologically agnostic.

“The reality is, you talk about private investment – well, there’s no private investors knocking down anyone’s door to build a nuclear reactor,” Mr Kean said.

“Let me just say, I’m not antinuclear, but I am anti-nonsense.

“In fact, under Peter Dutton’s nuclear plan, it won’t be the national energy market, it will be the nationalised energy market, because it will only be funded by the government.

“I forgot when the Liberal Party decided to be socialist.”

Originally published as Call for big change to cyclone zones after Cyclone Alfred weather batters NSW