The Queensland government should dump its 9% general insurance tax, industry has told an inquiry into lifting productivity in the construction sector.

Removing the tax on premiums will improve insurance penetration and support property investment, the Insurance Council of Australia argues.

ICA’s other recommendations to the Queensland Productivity Commission inquiry are:

• A review of land use planning in terms of current and projected extreme weather events, to ensure zero- and low-risk areas are prioritised for development.
• Government engagement with industry groups, including in insurance, to examine how to enhance the resilience of housing stock, including via codes and standards.
• Action to improve quality and safety of buildings and repair work by pursuing remaining recommendations from the 2018 Building Confidence report and to invest in projects to support rectification of serious defects. 
• A program to encourage and support combustible cladding rectification work.
• Automatic recognition of interstate trades so workers can be quickly brought in for repairs after extreme weather.

Queensland’s construction industry needs to lift productivity to meet the state government’s plan to build 50,000 homes a year. The current rate is below 35,000 a year. 

An interim report by the commission attributed slowing productivity to growing regulatory burdens that cut across land use, building activity and labour markets, and an expanding government capital works program and increasingly interventionist procurement policies.

The commission’s final report is due in October.

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