Two-and-a-half years on from the election, and eleven months since the announcement of a Taskforce into the issue, North Queenslanders are still waiting for the Government’s report on Northern Australia Insurance Premiums.

In Senate Additional Estimates last night, the Treasury confirmed the Final Report of the Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce was presented to the Assistant Treasurer on 24 November last year, but that it has sat on her desk since then.

The Treasury admitted that no decision had been made by the Government on action to help reduce home, contents and strata insurance premiums in Northern Australia.

What’s more, not one cent of the Abbott-Turnbull Government’s promise of $12.5 million for strata title engineering assessments has been spent, despite it being announced nearly two years ago now.

So far, this Government’s big talk on insurance premium relief for North Queenslanders has been nothing but puffery.

Since coming to office, this Government has just ripped $72.2 million from the National Insurance Affordability Initiative established by Labor.

The National Insurance Affordability Initiative was set up to support communities to mitigate damage from flood and other natural disasters as a sustainable way to reduce insurance premiums over time.  Experience in Australia and internationally has shown that mitigation can sustainably reduce insurance premiums.

North Queenslanders are sick of waiting for the Abbott-Turnbull Government to act.

After 887 days in office, they have done nothing in real terms to provide insurance relief to North Queenslanders - it is time for LNP MPs Warren Entsch, Ewen Jones and George Christensen to deliver more than just talk for the North.