Latest news with #Pascoe
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
NAIDOC Week Film Screening – The Dark Emu Story - Thu 10 July
Film NAIDOC Week Film Screening – The Dark Emu Story When Thu 10 July 6:30 pm Where East Maitland Library Get Directions Overview A thought provoking, revelatory and inspiring documentary telling the story of Bruce Pascoe's Dark Emu – the publishing phenomenon that challenged Australia to rethink its history and ignited a raging debate. The 2014 best-selling book made the explosive claims that First Nations people were not only hunters and gatherers but also farmers who were part of a complex economic system. Pascoe's findings ignited fierce debate, with academics and conservative commentators lining up to pour scorn upon his work and question the knowledge of the First Australians. The Dark Emu Story is a feature length documentary that delves into the controversy, provides a platform for First Nations people to share their remarkable stories and enlightens our understanding of Australian history. A selection of First Nations books, including Dark Emu, will also be available for purchase on the evening. Light refreshments by Blackseed Catering included. Film – The Dark Emu Story Duration – 1 hour and 22 minutes Rating – PG
The Citizen
6 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
Industry leaders launch market surveillance code as Steinhoff fallout lingers
Aims to uphold integrity and prevent abuse, anti-competitive behaviour, and insider trading. FSCA investigators spend about 20% of their time assisting foreign regulators, including gathering trading records and financial data. Picture: Moneyweb The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has had to manage some of the most complex market abuse cases in the past eight years, including Steinhoff, regarded as the country's biggest corporate scandal to date. 'It's really been challenging,' says Alex Pascoe, head of market abuse at the FSCA. 'From December 2017, when Steinhoff announced accounting irregularities and its CEO Markus Jooste resigned, everything spiralled.' Pascoe was speaking at the launch of the South African Market Surveillance Code of Conduct in Cape Town on Tuesday, where he gave an account of the regulator's most prominent cases. The newly launched code of conduct is a joint initiative by South Africa's key financial institutions and regulators to align the country's market practices with global best standards. It aims to uphold market integrity and prevent abuse, anti-competitive behaviour, and insider trading. Although it does not replace existing regulations, it reinforces accountability from all market participants. ALSO READ: FSCA juggling high-profile cases with limited resources Case load Pascoe notes that the FSCA receives roughly 42 to 45 market abuse cases per year, but finalised 78 cases in its last financial year by implementing a World Bank-recommended case selection framework. Pascoe reflected on how the fallout from Steinhoff forced the FSCA to re-evaluate how it allocates investigative capacity. 'Everybody knew Jooste was Steinhoff, and Steinhoff was Jooste,' he says. 'From there on it spiralled – Viceroy and Tongaat [another accounting scandal], a mini-Steinhoff followed. It took a lot of resources to manage those cases, especially since they involved cross-border transactions.' (The Viceroy case refers to the FSCA's investigation into the US-based short-selling firm Viceroy Research, which was fined R50 million for publishing false and misleading statements about Capitec. The Tongaat accounting scandal involved the manipulation of financial statements by senior executives at sugar producer Tongaat Hulett to overstate the company's assets and profits.) ALSO READ: Secrecy surrounded Jooste's big FSCA fine and arrest warrant Jooste a 'brilliant' schemer The Steinhoff investigation is far from over. 'Last year we issued fines to Markus Jooste [of] R495 million. We are looking at his deceased estate and assets around the world,' said Pascoe. 'We won't just leave it at that. Ill-gotten gains – be [he] dead or alive – that's how serious we are. We are seeing this right through.' (Jooste, who faced multiple charges of fraud and racketeering and hefty fines from the JSE and the FSCA for financial misconduct, fatally shot himself in Hermanus in March 2024.) The South African Reserve Bank has already attached R1.4 billion in assets belonging to Jooste, but the global search continues. 'Most of his funds were hidden overseas,' says Pascoe. He adds that a second investigative report into Steinhoff is underway and has been shared with the commercial crimes court. 'Once preliminary findings are in, they [respondents] could make submissions.' Reflecting on lessons learned from Steinhoff, Pascoe says be on the lookout for a dominant CEO. The way Jooste set up the schemes was brilliant. ALSO READ: FSCA fines Markus Jooste R475 million, refers case to Hawks 'Only certain individuals knew what he wanted them to know. Nobody had the full picture.' He adds that Jooste's devices were wiped every two weeks, and hardly anything was documented. Steinhoff's complex global structure, multiple acquisitions, and lack of transparency made it difficult for stakeholders to understand the company's financial position. 'It was difficult to keep up and understand how everything fitted in,' says Pascoe. He also points to poor internal controls and captured auditors in Europe as contributing factors. 'The audits were not up to standard. And then, the culture of not questioning management.' FSCA investigators spend about 20% of their time assisting foreign regulators, including gathering trading records and financial data. 'We're getting requests from all over the world – Sweden, Belgium, even Pakistan,' said Pascoe. 'A lot of suspicious transactions are from overseas, and no longer from the JSE.' ALSO READ: Who will pay Markus Jooste's R510 million penalties now? Shadow trading The need for international collaboration was echoed by Tony Sio, head of regulatory strategy and innovation at Nasdaq's Anti-Financial Crime division, who also spoke at Tuesday's event. Sio shared developments in market abuse investigations, including a growing focus on shadow trading – a form of misconduct that remains largely unprosecuted but which are increasingly on the radar of regulators. 'Shadow trading is where insider traders don't trade in the companies themselves, but in economically-linked securities,' Sio explains. Although the practice started as a hypothetical scenario in an academic journal published in 2020, it is now being observed in market data. 'We found increases in volumes of linked securities before acquisitions.' He cites the 2021 case where the executive of a pharmaceutical company learned of an imminent takeover and used the information to buy options in a rival company likely to benefit from the news. 'His options doubled in value in one day. He thought he was smart by not buying in the company itself – but he was found liable.' ALSO READ: We can't afford another Jooste from Steinhoff Robust market surveillance attracts global investment Happy Shihau, head of compliance at Investec Corporate and Institutional Banking, who facilitated discussions at the launch event, stresses that the newly launched market surveillance conduct code complements – rather than replaces – regulatory rules and directives. Shihau says robust market surveillance is essential to attracting global investment. 'Investors worldwide seek to engage with trusted financial markets, and robust market surveillance is essential for upholding that trust.' She adds that the new code will help reinforce the regulatory environment and promote responsible behaviour across the industry. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
The Citizen
7 days ago
- Business
- The Citizen
FSCA juggling high-profile cases with limited resources
Regulator finalised 78 cases in its last financial year by implementing World Bank-recommended case selection framework. FSCA investigators spend about 20% of their time assisting foreign regulators, including gathering trading records and financial data. Picture: Moneyweb Despite having only nine investigators in its market abuse team, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has had to manage some of South Africa's most complex market abuse cases – including the fallout from the Steinhoff accounting scandal. 'It's really been challenging,' says Alex Pascoe, head of market abuse at the FSCA. 'From December 2017, when Steinhoff announced accounting irregularities and its CEO Markus Jooste resigned, everything spiralled.' Pascoe was speaking at the launch of the South African Market Surveillance Code of Conduct in Cape Town on Tuesday, where he gave an account of the regulator's most prominent cases over the past eight years. The newly launched code of conduct is a joint initiative by South Africa's key financial institutions and regulators to align the country's market practices with global best standards. It aims to uphold market integrity and prevent abuse, anti-competitive behaviour, and insider trading. Although it does not replace existing regulations, it reinforces accountability from all market participants. ALSO READ: FSCA's Regulatory Actions Report shows impressive numbers of enforcement Case load Pascoe notes that the FSCA receives roughly 42 to 45 market abuse cases per year, but finalised 78 cases in its last financial year by implementing a World Bank-recommended case selection framework. 'We had to look at our resources – for the last 15 years, my team hasn't grown. We are just nine investigators.' Pascoe reflected on how the fallout from Steinhoff forced the FSCA to re-evaluate how it allocates investigative capacity. 'Everybody knew Jooste was Steinhoff, and Steinhoff was Jooste,' he says. 'From there on it spiralled – Viceroy and Tongaat [another accounting scandal], a mini-Steinhoff followed. It took a lot of resources to manage those cases, especially since they involved cross-border transactions.' (The Viceroy case refers to the FSCA's investigation into the US-based short-selling firm Viceroy Research, which was fined R50 million for publishing false and misleading statements about Capitec. The Tongaat accounting scandal involved the manipulation of financial statements by senior executives at sugar producer Tongaat Hulett to overstate the company's assets and profits.) ALSO READ: FSCA fines Markus Jooste R475 million, refers case to Hawks Jooste a 'brilliant' schemer The Steinhoff investigation is far from over. 'Last year we issued fines to Markus Jooste [of] R495 million. We are looking at his deceased estate and assets around the world,' said Pascoe. 'We won't just leave it at that. Ill-gotten gains – be [he] dead or alive – that's how serious we are. We are seeing this right through.' (Jooste, who faced multiple charges of fraud and racketeering and hefty fines from the JSE and the FSCA for financial misconduct, fatally shot himself in Hermanus in March 2024.) The South African Reserve Bank has already attached R1.4 billion in assets belonging to Jooste, but the global search continues. 'Most of his funds were hidden overseas,' says Pascoe. He adds that a second investigative report into Steinhoff is underway and has been shared with the commercial crimes court. 'Once preliminary findings are in, they [respondents] could make submissions.' Reflecting on lessons learned from Steinhoff, Pascoe says be on the lookout for a dominant CEO. The way Jooste set up the schemes was brilliant. 'Only certain individuals knew what he wanted them to know. Nobody had the full picture.' He adds that Jooste's devices were wiped every two weeks, and hardly anything was documented. Steinhoff's complex global structure, multiple acquisitions, and lack of transparency made it difficult for stakeholders to understand the company's financial position. 'It was difficult to keep up and understand how everything fitted in,' says Pascoe. He also points to poor internal controls and captured auditors in Europe as contributing factors. 'The audits were not up to standard. And then, the culture of not questioning management.' FSCA investigators spend about 20% of their time assisting foreign regulators, including gathering trading records and financial data. 'We're getting requests from all over the world – Sweden, Belgium, even Pakistan,' said Pascoe. 'A lot of suspicious transactions are from overseas, and no longer from the JSE.' ALSO READ: FSCA imposed about R943 million in penalties and debarred 156 people Shadow trading The need for international collaboration was echoed by Tony Sio, head of regulatory strategy and innovation at Nasdaq's Anti-Financial Crime division, who also spoke at Tuesday's event. Sio shared developments in market abuse investigations, including a growing focus on shadow trading – a form of misconduct that remains largely unprosecuted but which are increasingly on the radar of regulators. 'Shadow trading is where insider traders don't trade in the companies themselves, but in economically-linked securities,' Sio explains. Although the practice started as a hypothetical scenario in an academic journal published in 2020, it is now being observed in market data. 'We found increases in volumes of linked securities before acquisitions.' He cites the 2021 case where the executive of a pharmaceutical company learned of an imminent takeover and used the information to buy options in a rival company likely to benefit from the news. 'His options doubled in value in one day. He thought he was smart by not buying in the company itself – but he was found liable.' ALSO READ: FSCA to investigate banks charging different amounts for the same product Robust market surveillance attracts global investment Happy Shihau, head of compliance at Investec Corporate and Institutional Banking, who facilitated discussions at the launch event, stresses that the newly launched market surveillance conduct code complements – rather than replaces – regulatory rules and directives. Shihau says robust market surveillance is essential to attracting global investment. 'Investors worldwide seek to engage with trusted financial markets, and robust market surveillance is essential for upholding that trust.' She adds that the new code will help reinforce the regulatory environment and promote responsible behaviour across the industry. Follow Moneyweb's in-depth finance and business news on WhatsApp here.
The Advertiser
30-05-2025
- Sport
- The Advertiser
Coach releived for league to be back up and running after 'mini preseason'
CHARLESTOWN Azzurri coach James Pascoe has treated the past month like a mini preseason. His players have done circuit classes, run along Nobbys breakwall and played modified games on a five-a-side court. It has been a similar scenario for all NNSW NPL clubs. Finally, the big wet has broken long enough to allow games to be played. Fourth-placed Azzurri host fifth-placed Newcastle Olympic at Lilse Carr Oval on Sunday at 2pm. The clash will be Azzurri's first league match since a 1-0 loss to Cooks Hill on April 28. Though relieved to be back in action, Pascoe expects it will take at least two weeks for teams to get up to full speed. "Tuesday night was the first time we have trained on a grass pitch in four weeks," Pascoe said. "It has been a bit like preseason. Even on five-a-side courts, you are restricted in what you can do. You need a distance element to simulate a 90-minute game. "The only good thing about it is that everyone is in the same boat. "I had a bit of a look at the Magic-Valentine catch-up game [Tuesday night]. It looked to be at a slower pace than most games. I imagine that is how every game will be in the next week or two." Azzurri have four catch-up games to play. "You go from not much football to having a huge game-load schedule," Pascoe said. "We will have to keep a close eye on the injury risk. That is why we have biggish squads, I guess. Players will be rolled in and out at different times. "What will be, will be for the next couple of weeks until players find their rhythm again." Azzurri edged Olympic 1-0 in their first encounter at Darling Street Oval on March 2. However, they are coming off consecutive losses to Maitland (2-1) and Cooks Hill (1-0). "A lack of goals has been our downfall in the past couple of games," Pascoe said. "We have created plenty of chances but haven't converted. We should have been fairly confortable in term of chances created. "Hopefully that changes. We have plenty of firepower up top in Harrison Frendo, Reece McManus, Regan Lundy and Jarryd Sutherland. Rene Ferguson has been doing a job off the bench. "Roy O'Donovan will be back for Olympic. He is a very good finsiher and will make a difference for them." In round 14 games on Saturday, Lambton host Eadgeworth (2pm), Belswans' clash with Valentine has been shifted to Croudace Bay Complex (4.30pm) and Maitland welcome Adamstown (6.30pm). However, the battle between Cooks Hill and Weston has been postponed due to unsafe areas on the surface. Broadmeadow, who were playing New Lambton on Friday night, moved top of the table midweek after beating Valentine 2-0. It was the first of five catch-up matches for the defending champions and premiers. In NPLW, fourth-placed New Lambton closed the gap on third-placed Olympic to one point with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lake Macquarie on Tuesday night. Tara Andrews scored in the 84th and 87th minutes to seal the important win and take her season tally to 21 goals in 10 games. In NPLW this weekend, Olympic were hosting Maitland on Friday night, Adamstown travel to Charlestown on Saturday (4pm) and last-placed Magic, who lost 2-0 to Adamstown in a midweek catch-up, are home to New Lambton on Sunday (4pm). CHARLESTOWN Azzurri coach James Pascoe has treated the past month like a mini preseason. His players have done circuit classes, run along Nobbys breakwall and played modified games on a five-a-side court. It has been a similar scenario for all NNSW NPL clubs. Finally, the big wet has broken long enough to allow games to be played. Fourth-placed Azzurri host fifth-placed Newcastle Olympic at Lilse Carr Oval on Sunday at 2pm. The clash will be Azzurri's first league match since a 1-0 loss to Cooks Hill on April 28. Though relieved to be back in action, Pascoe expects it will take at least two weeks for teams to get up to full speed. "Tuesday night was the first time we have trained on a grass pitch in four weeks," Pascoe said. "It has been a bit like preseason. Even on five-a-side courts, you are restricted in what you can do. You need a distance element to simulate a 90-minute game. "The only good thing about it is that everyone is in the same boat. "I had a bit of a look at the Magic-Valentine catch-up game [Tuesday night]. It looked to be at a slower pace than most games. I imagine that is how every game will be in the next week or two." Azzurri have four catch-up games to play. "You go from not much football to having a huge game-load schedule," Pascoe said. "We will have to keep a close eye on the injury risk. That is why we have biggish squads, I guess. Players will be rolled in and out at different times. "What will be, will be for the next couple of weeks until players find their rhythm again." Azzurri edged Olympic 1-0 in their first encounter at Darling Street Oval on March 2. However, they are coming off consecutive losses to Maitland (2-1) and Cooks Hill (1-0). "A lack of goals has been our downfall in the past couple of games," Pascoe said. "We have created plenty of chances but haven't converted. We should have been fairly confortable in term of chances created. "Hopefully that changes. We have plenty of firepower up top in Harrison Frendo, Reece McManus, Regan Lundy and Jarryd Sutherland. Rene Ferguson has been doing a job off the bench. "Roy O'Donovan will be back for Olympic. He is a very good finsiher and will make a difference for them." In round 14 games on Saturday, Lambton host Eadgeworth (2pm), Belswans' clash with Valentine has been shifted to Croudace Bay Complex (4.30pm) and Maitland welcome Adamstown (6.30pm). However, the battle between Cooks Hill and Weston has been postponed due to unsafe areas on the surface. Broadmeadow, who were playing New Lambton on Friday night, moved top of the table midweek after beating Valentine 2-0. It was the first of five catch-up matches for the defending champions and premiers. In NPLW, fourth-placed New Lambton closed the gap on third-placed Olympic to one point with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lake Macquarie on Tuesday night. Tara Andrews scored in the 84th and 87th minutes to seal the important win and take her season tally to 21 goals in 10 games. In NPLW this weekend, Olympic were hosting Maitland on Friday night, Adamstown travel to Charlestown on Saturday (4pm) and last-placed Magic, who lost 2-0 to Adamstown in a midweek catch-up, are home to New Lambton on Sunday (4pm). CHARLESTOWN Azzurri coach James Pascoe has treated the past month like a mini preseason. His players have done circuit classes, run along Nobbys breakwall and played modified games on a five-a-side court. It has been a similar scenario for all NNSW NPL clubs. Finally, the big wet has broken long enough to allow games to be played. Fourth-placed Azzurri host fifth-placed Newcastle Olympic at Lilse Carr Oval on Sunday at 2pm. The clash will be Azzurri's first league match since a 1-0 loss to Cooks Hill on April 28. Though relieved to be back in action, Pascoe expects it will take at least two weeks for teams to get up to full speed. "Tuesday night was the first time we have trained on a grass pitch in four weeks," Pascoe said. "It has been a bit like preseason. Even on five-a-side courts, you are restricted in what you can do. You need a distance element to simulate a 90-minute game. "The only good thing about it is that everyone is in the same boat. "I had a bit of a look at the Magic-Valentine catch-up game [Tuesday night]. It looked to be at a slower pace than most games. I imagine that is how every game will be in the next week or two." Azzurri have four catch-up games to play. "You go from not much football to having a huge game-load schedule," Pascoe said. "We will have to keep a close eye on the injury risk. That is why we have biggish squads, I guess. Players will be rolled in and out at different times. "What will be, will be for the next couple of weeks until players find their rhythm again." Azzurri edged Olympic 1-0 in their first encounter at Darling Street Oval on March 2. However, they are coming off consecutive losses to Maitland (2-1) and Cooks Hill (1-0). "A lack of goals has been our downfall in the past couple of games," Pascoe said. "We have created plenty of chances but haven't converted. We should have been fairly confortable in term of chances created. "Hopefully that changes. We have plenty of firepower up top in Harrison Frendo, Reece McManus, Regan Lundy and Jarryd Sutherland. Rene Ferguson has been doing a job off the bench. "Roy O'Donovan will be back for Olympic. He is a very good finsiher and will make a difference for them." In round 14 games on Saturday, Lambton host Eadgeworth (2pm), Belswans' clash with Valentine has been shifted to Croudace Bay Complex (4.30pm) and Maitland welcome Adamstown (6.30pm). However, the battle between Cooks Hill and Weston has been postponed due to unsafe areas on the surface. Broadmeadow, who were playing New Lambton on Friday night, moved top of the table midweek after beating Valentine 2-0. It was the first of five catch-up matches for the defending champions and premiers. In NPLW, fourth-placed New Lambton closed the gap on third-placed Olympic to one point with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lake Macquarie on Tuesday night. Tara Andrews scored in the 84th and 87th minutes to seal the important win and take her season tally to 21 goals in 10 games. In NPLW this weekend, Olympic were hosting Maitland on Friday night, Adamstown travel to Charlestown on Saturday (4pm) and last-placed Magic, who lost 2-0 to Adamstown in a midweek catch-up, are home to New Lambton on Sunday (4pm). CHARLESTOWN Azzurri coach James Pascoe has treated the past month like a mini preseason. His players have done circuit classes, run along Nobbys breakwall and played modified games on a five-a-side court. It has been a similar scenario for all NNSW NPL clubs. Finally, the big wet has broken long enough to allow games to be played. Fourth-placed Azzurri host fifth-placed Newcastle Olympic at Lilse Carr Oval on Sunday at 2pm. The clash will be Azzurri's first league match since a 1-0 loss to Cooks Hill on April 28. Though relieved to be back in action, Pascoe expects it will take at least two weeks for teams to get up to full speed. "Tuesday night was the first time we have trained on a grass pitch in four weeks," Pascoe said. "It has been a bit like preseason. Even on five-a-side courts, you are restricted in what you can do. You need a distance element to simulate a 90-minute game. "The only good thing about it is that everyone is in the same boat. "I had a bit of a look at the Magic-Valentine catch-up game [Tuesday night]. It looked to be at a slower pace than most games. I imagine that is how every game will be in the next week or two." Azzurri have four catch-up games to play. "You go from not much football to having a huge game-load schedule," Pascoe said. "We will have to keep a close eye on the injury risk. That is why we have biggish squads, I guess. Players will be rolled in and out at different times. "What will be, will be for the next couple of weeks until players find their rhythm again." Azzurri edged Olympic 1-0 in their first encounter at Darling Street Oval on March 2. However, they are coming off consecutive losses to Maitland (2-1) and Cooks Hill (1-0). "A lack of goals has been our downfall in the past couple of games," Pascoe said. "We have created plenty of chances but haven't converted. We should have been fairly confortable in term of chances created. "Hopefully that changes. We have plenty of firepower up top in Harrison Frendo, Reece McManus, Regan Lundy and Jarryd Sutherland. Rene Ferguson has been doing a job off the bench. "Roy O'Donovan will be back for Olympic. He is a very good finsiher and will make a difference for them." In round 14 games on Saturday, Lambton host Eadgeworth (2pm), Belswans' clash with Valentine has been shifted to Croudace Bay Complex (4.30pm) and Maitland welcome Adamstown (6.30pm). However, the battle between Cooks Hill and Weston has been postponed due to unsafe areas on the surface. Broadmeadow, who were playing New Lambton on Friday night, moved top of the table midweek after beating Valentine 2-0. It was the first of five catch-up matches for the defending champions and premiers. In NPLW, fourth-placed New Lambton closed the gap on third-placed Olympic to one point with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over Lake Macquarie on Tuesday night. Tara Andrews scored in the 84th and 87th minutes to seal the important win and take her season tally to 21 goals in 10 games. In NPLW this weekend, Olympic were hosting Maitland on Friday night, Adamstown travel to Charlestown on Saturday (4pm) and last-placed Magic, who lost 2-0 to Adamstown in a midweek catch-up, are home to New Lambton on Sunday (4pm).
Sydney Morning Herald
18-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
The maps that show how climate change is driving up the cost of insuring Melbourne homes
Since then, Pascoe and Johanason have left the mountain, and now live in Nillumbik. Pascoe says that after the damaging storms, weakened trees continue to come down on Mount Dandenong, disrupting power lines and people's lives. She and her partner have had to reimburse guests on multiple occasions when power outages hit. 'People are not properly compensated,' she said. 'There's often businesses that are throwing out produce; people have generators and have to rely on that ... and our [business's] insurance is far more expensive than it was before the storm.' Data collected exclusively for this masthead from about 40,000 online quotes for building insurance premiums in Melbourne suburbs, compiled by actuary and insurance consultants Finity, shows Pascoe's experience is far from isolated. Finity collected quotes from eight insurers over a six-year period across metropolitan Melbourne, representing the amount that customers would pay if they were taking on a new building insurance policy for a typical risk profile in the local government area. Principal Stephen Lau said the most expensive climate-related events in the past 40 to 50 years, from an insurance perspective, were floods, bushfires and the 1999 Sydney hailstorm that caused $8.9 billion in normalised losses (adjusted for inflation, exposure and building stock). 'And that's then passed back down to consumers ... if there's higher reinsurance risks, they pass down higher reinsurance costs.' While Black Saturday and Black Summer had increased insurance premiums, Lau said the most expensive climatic event from a normative loss basis were the 1999 hailstorms. Rounding out the top three were the 2022-23 floods across south-eastern Australia, and the Black Summer bushfires. In Melbourne, the municipality with the lowest average insurance premiums was Whitehorse, which had an average insurance premium of $1609 – almost three times lower than the Yarra Ranges Shire. Lau said the Bayside, Stonnington and Port Phillip local government areas had higher-than-average premiums due largely to the higher cost of housing and larger-than-average property values insured. Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall called for a 10-year, $30 billion flood defence fund that would be jointly funded by federal and state governments, to develop flood defences, retrofit homes and relocate people where no other mitigation was possible. 'The cost of extreme weather is growing,' he said. 'Over the past five years, the annual average insured cost of extreme weather has reached $4.5 billion [nationwide], 64 per cent higher than the previous five-year average. 'This trend is expected to worsen, which is why we must invest in risk reduction, mitigation and adaptation.'
