Climate-induced flood risks cast doubt on economic future

As the massive clean-up continues, a new Climate Council report has warned the frequency of rainfall events is likely to double with each degree of further global warming, with economists warning greater rates of natural disasters will heighten uncertainty around growth.

ANZ economist Felicity Emmett warned the deluge of water which has hit the east coast of the country will push up food prices over the coming weeks and further constrain pressured supply chains.

The Climate Council study found that while the catastrophic floods were caused by short-term factors, including the La Nina phenomenon, the likelihood and intensity of "extreme and highly destructive events" would increase as the planet warmed.

The latest figures from the Insurance Council of Australia have also shown the damage bill is nearing $2 billion.

As of Thursday, a total of 118,016 claims equalling $1.77 billion had been lodged to insurers as a result of flooding in NSW and Queensland. That's a 9 per cent jump compared to the prior day.

ANZ is now forecasting the combination of flooding and rising commodity prices due to the Ukraine crisis will cause Australia's annual inflation to surge by at least 5 per cent in the first of 2022.

Ms Emmett said the most immediate shock will be felt in the price of goods due to a large proportion of the country's agriculture residing in affected areas in northern NSW and south-east Queensland.

"A lot of the areas that were hit are food-growing areas, and so it's likely over the coming months we are going to see quite significant price increases for some fruit and vegetables," she said.

Flood rebuilds are also set to be impacted as a result of major supply chain constraints impacting the ability to access construction materials.

Supply constraints are already impacting the cost of materials, fuelling concerns a rebuild program would be an added layer of pressure.

"We already have a really large pipeline of residential work, as well as non-residential and infrastructure work, and we are struggling already to get through that pipeline because of supply constraints," Ms Emmett said.

"Those supply constraints will probably lengthen the period of time that it takes for the rebuild (from the floods), and also add to the cost of the rebuild program."

Recent statistics released by Westpac showed consumer confidence had fallen as a result of the flooding.

The latest science estimates temperatures are up 1.1 degrees on pre-industrial levels, and forecast to exceed 2 degrees without significant cuts to projected levels of global greenhouse-gas emissions.

"Climate change is playing out in real time here in Australia," climate expert and report co-author Will Steffen said.

"We are dealing with a climate system on steroids."

The group has again called for a 2030 emissions-reduction target of 75 per cent to be adopted, arguing Australia must do its fair share in tackling climate change.

"Unless we act now and join the rest of the world to reduce emissions this decade, such disasters will only get worse," he said.

The federal government confirmed that since March 10, Social Services had dished out $480 million in disaster payments to 414,000 flood victims.

Roughly 5748 Australian Defence Force personnel have been deployed to assist victims, with clean-up assistance slated for Tweed Heads, Byron Bay and Evans Head.

The number of ADF personnel is expected to increase to almost 6500 over the next 24 hours.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the number of ADF personnel deployed in Queensland has been larger than what was provided during the 2011 floods.

"The difference between 2011 and today is we've been able to deploy here four times the number of ADF and do it a week quicker," he said.

"Now that's because of the build-up of our defence capability that we've been able to put in place over many years now."

Labor's disaster and emergency management spokesman, Murray Watt, slammed the Prime Minister's recent one-day visit to Lismore, which attracted a number of climate protesters.

Mr Watt said people in Lismore, the Northern Rivers and south-east Queensland are feeling abandoned by the Commonwealth over a delayed response to declaring the floods as a national emergency.

"The whole idea about this national emergency declaration is that it helps the government, so they say, cut through red tape and deliver resources when they need it," he said.

Mr Watt also pointed out the $4.8 billion Emergency Response Fund has garnered over $800 million in interest, instead of funding being funnelled in to recovery and disaster-mitigation projects.