2025-10-03
The Victorian Greens have said Melbourne Water’s new flood-risk maps will mean very little without a plan by Labor to protect at-risk communities from worsening climate disasters.
Earlier today Melbourne Water released the first of its new flood-risk maps for Yarra and Darebin, revealing over 60,000 properties across the two council areas to be flood-prone.
The Greens say with climate disasters increasing in frequency and continuing to devastate communities across the state, Labor must ensure Victorians aren’t continuing to bear the costs of decades of government inaction on climate change.
Instead, Labor should invest in protecting communities from these climate disasters, to prevent the impacts of disasters like the Maribyrnong floods in 2022 which saw homes destroyed and residents displaced.
Earlier this year, a Greens-established inquiry into climate resilience recommended a resilient homes scheme, similar to those in New South Wales and Queensland.
A scheme like this would help cover the costs of retro-fitting, lifting, renovations, and in some instances relocations and buybacks or compensation for homes at greater risk of floods.
The Greens say Labor should take up this recommendation and make the polluting fossil fuel giants pay for it.
Labor and Melbourne Water should also be fast-tracking investment in flood mitigation measures, such as upgrading stormwater systems and urban greening, to reduce the risk to communities from flooding.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens MP for Richmond, Gabrielle de Vietri:
“We’re already in a housing crisis, and the increasing frequency and intensity of climate-driven disasters is only going to make this worse as more and more homes become uninsurable and uninhabitable.
“Why should Victorians continue to bear the costs of decades of government inaction on climate change?
“Flood-risk maps are an important step, but what good will they do without a plan by Labor to protect the people on those maps most at risk?
“A resilient homes scheme would help cover the costs needed to retro-fit, lift, and upgrade homes under threat from flooding, rather than saddle homeowners with the price tag.
“Labor also needs to recognise its own role in worsening climate disasters, and stop approving new coal and gas.”