Climate disasters are projected to cost the federal budget $6.3 billion in the upcoming mid-year economic forecast this week. The Treasurer should follow public opinion and ensure coal and gas corporations responsible for most climate pollution pay for these costs, rather than forcing ordinary taxpayers to shoulder the burden, according to the Make Big Polluters Pay alliance.
Climate disasters already cost the economy $38 billion each year, with households, communities, local governments and small businesses paying to recover from extreme weather. These impacts are also driving up insurance premiums, food prices and household bills. Deloitte projects disaster costs will exceed $73 billion annually by 2060.
The Treasurer must rebalance a system where ordinary Australians pay for climate damage while coal and gas corporations pay minimal tax and royalties and continue to receive government subsidies. Nurses pay more tax than oil and gas companies.
A Climate Pollution Levy on coal, gas and oil companies could raise $46 billion a year. The Government should use this revenue to establish a Climate Compensation Fund to support communities on the frontline of climate impacts and help households manage rising climate-driven costs.
Make Polluters Pay Australia Campaign Strategic Lead, Julie-Anne Richards, said:
“The Treasurer must fix an unfair system where climate costs keep rising. While the average household insurance bill jumped 14 per cent last year, the industries driving climate change don’t pay for the damage they cause.
Australia’s coal, oil and gas companies often pay little or no tax, and over the past decade paid less tax than nurses. Meanwhile, everyday Australians face higher insurance, food and household bills and the growing costs of climate disasters. It’s time these corporations pay their fair share.”
Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action CEO, Serena Joyner, said:
“As this year of unprecedented floods, storms and more recently devastating bushfires has shown, it's our communities on the frontline of climate impacts that are paying the real cost of climate change. Australians are tough, but it’s not fair that we are shouldering the escalating damage bill of rising climate disasters with little support. It’s only fair that the big coal and gas corporations, who have caused climate change, contribute to the cost being faced by communities."
For interviews, contact Lucy Brown [email protected] / 0478 190 099
Notes to editor
Driven by a powerful coalition of climate impacted communities, development, faith, climate, youth, First Nations and Pacific organisations, including Oxfam Australia, Greenpeace Australia, ActionAid Australia, Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, Pacific Islands Council of Queensland, and others, Make Big Polluters Pay, unifies a broad cross section of society, raising the voices of frontline communities in Australia and the Pacific. The alliance highlights how the fossil fuel industry is putting the costs of climate change onto communities and not paying their fair share, which is also harming our budget sustainability, productivity and economic resilience.
Polling commissioned by the Make Big Polluters Pay Alliance shows that the majority of Australians (62%) agree that coal, oil and gas corporations should pay for the damage caused by their climate pollution, including contributing to the costs of climate disasters. The polling also found:
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83% believe that everyone is paying the price of climate change through increasing insurance premiums and increasing food prices.
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82% believe that fossil fuel companies are exporting most of the coal, oil and gas they produce overseas, meanwhile the cost of energy domestically is very high.
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70% agree that the government should get coal, oil and gas corporations to take more responsibility when it comes to climate pollution and damages they cause.
Coal, oil and gas corporations, who are responsible for three quarters of Australia’s climate pollution, take billions in government handouts, and they often pay less tax in Australia than most Australians such as nurses, despite $370 billion in revenue in 2024-25. They make mega profits, sending most overseas, and they don’t contribute to the costs of dealing with climate change and their climate pollution.
Polling was commissioned by Essential Media and conducted between 13th June – 19th June 2025 with a nationally representative sample of n=2029 Australian residents aged 18+. Quotas were applied to be representative of the target population by gender, age and location. RIM weighting was applied to the data using information sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The percentage of coal, oil and gas companies is based on the latest National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Quarterly Update at time of writing.
“Expenditure on natural disaster relief, which can take years to filter through the federal budget, is expected to be up $6.3 billion on the March budget forecast.” Shane Wright, Nation sheds 56,500 full-time jobs in a month, giving RBA a headache, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 2025, Nation sheds 56,500 full-time jobs in a month, giving RBA a headache
Deloitte Access Economics estimates that the economic costs of disasters in Australia is $38 billion per year on average. That’s equivalent to around $3,800 for every household in Australia. Aside from rare earthquakes, all other disasters, including bushfires, floods, heatwaves, storms and drought are made more frequent and intense by climate change. As a result, Deloitte estimates that disasters will cost Australia $73 billion per annum by 2060, under a low emissions scenario, and $94 billion under high emission scenarios. Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities and Deloitte Access Economics, Special Report: Update to the Economic Costs of Natural Disasters in Australia.
Other estimates for the annual cost of extreme weather events, driven by climate change, sit around $1,532 per household, rising to $2,509 by 2050 if no structural changes are made. Weather: Building Resilience in the Face of Disaster (McKell Institute, 2022), https://insurancecouncil.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/McKell_Cost-of-Natural-Disasters_SINGLES_WEB.pdf
Belinda Williamson and Nick Whiting, Australians paying more for home and contents insurance as premiums jump 14%. Canstar. 11 September 2025. Australians paying more for home insurance | Canstar
