The Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities (ABR) has applauded the final report recommendations for the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements. This comes after years of ABR calling for greater investment in mitigation to protect vulnerable communities in Australia.
ABR provided a submission to the Royal Commission which represents the collective views of its members, emphasising the significance of government investment in mitigation ahead of severe weather events.
It also called for collaboration among governments, the private sector, and community organisations to improve data sharing and inform decision-making around mitigation projects as well as land management and planning.
“Each ABR member played a crucial role supporting communities across the nation through last summer's bushfires,” said Nick Hawkins, the managing director and chief executive officer of IAG.
“Natural disasters leave deep, emotional, physical, and financial impacts on communities for many years. Our members have unfortunately seen the impact of many natural disasters firsthand over the last few decades, which have driven us to work collaboratively to make communities more resilient and people safer.”
He concluded: “We've been grateful for the opportunity to provide our insights to the Royal Commission to ensure we can all learn from the previous season to protect Australians in future, and our members would welcome the opportunity to offer our expertise and insights to the government to realise these recommendations.”
