Treasurer Jim Chalmers says National GDP could have a slight impact too.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers revealed the economic costs of the country as catastrophic floods in North Queensland.
Chalmers, who is also Queen’s Lander, said that the overall impact on inflation is not estimated to be substantial, but that crop losses could lead to rising prices for bananas and sugar.
The Treasury estimates that up to 20% of Australia’s banana crops could be affected by floods and raise prices.
“Floods can put some upward pressure on prices, but they’re a very limited, narrow range of products,” explained Chalmers.
Furthermore, from a more overall perspective, the treasurer said the country’s GDP growth could further slow down 0.1% in the March quarter.
While this decline may appear to be minimal, Chalmers stressed that the current climate recession is harmful.
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“We expect floods to reduce GDP by about 0.1% in the March quarter, which means we will lose economic activity. That may sound a lot, but we have a growing economy on the ground. At a lesser period, another 0.1% activity in the quarter we are in will make a difference,” Chalmers said.
Focus on human costs and recovery
Amidst economic concerns, Chalmers points to the human sacrifice of the flood, which has already caused great disruption to the community.
Two people have been reported to have died so far.
Heavy rainfall and flooding have led to the deployment of the Australian Defence Force to support blackouts, forced evacuations and critical infrastructure.
“Our main focus is on the human cost of what’s going on there,” Chalmers said.
“We still have weather warnings, but the community is still severely affected and roads are being cut. That will affect supply chain and grocery delivery.”
The accounts said the government is working closely with the state to help the recovery.
“We have made it very clear to the Queensland government where we work very closely. When it comes to rebuilding their communities, it’s for the people of North Queensland and the Far North Queensland. “It made it clear that I’m there,” he added.
The Chalmers ensured that financial support will be available to rebuild the efforts. On February 6th, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese resolved the situation by visiting areas affected by the flood.
Meanwhile, during the briefing, Queensland Prime Minister David Krizahul pledged to rebuild his “more resilient” infrastructure, urging residents not to panic.
“There are some things that you have to go through this heartache… and some good things need to be in the following form: when you need to replace your infrastructure, replace it with a more resilient standard; What can we improve our ability to deal with? Mother Nature must throw North and North Queensland,” he said.
