Federal backbencher Warren Entsch has fired another broadside at the insurance industry, accusing it of ignoring the “insurance crisis in northern Australia”.

And the Liberal MP’s nemesis, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), again bears the brunt of the criticism.

In Parliament last week Mr Entsch – the driving force behind the Government’s Northern Australia Insurance Premiums Taskforce – accused the industry of “not being serious about improving the affordability and availability of property insurance in northern Australia”.

In March the Government set up the taskforce to investigate creating a government-run reinsurance pool or mutual cyclone insurer to reduce home, contents and strata premiums in the region.

Mr Entsch – the member for Leichhardt in Queensland – says submissions to the taskforce from insurers and ICA have been “overwhelmingly against government action”.

“ICA’s representation on the taskforce continues to be disruptive rather than constructive and the industry still says there isn’t a problem [with high insurance costs in northern Queensland].”

ICA has taken a stand against the pool and mutual options.

Its submission warns of “significant consequences” from government intervention in northern Australia’s insurance market. “While market intervention… to artificially lower premiums may have some popular appeal, the only sustainable approach to premium reduction is to mitigate the underlying risks,” it says.

“The options of a pool or mutual have several common weaknesses including high costs to government, evidenced by international experience, failure to address the root cause of the issue [and] creation of a complex consumer claims experience… as seen in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake.”

Mr Entsch also accuses ICA of being “misleading” in its submission.

“It got four of the insurance companies to quote on properties in postcode 4825,” he said.

“It came back with fabulous prices and said there wasn’t a problem. But 4825 is Mount Isa – I’d like to know the last time that there was a cyclone in Mount Isa.”

ICA argues this is to demonstrate the spread of pricing in one area, and is not about comparing prices between areas.

That explanation is unlikely to assuage Mr Entsch’s dislike of ICA.

In the past he has accused it of “peddling bulls**t” and “scaremongering” on the issue of insurance affordability in the north.

“I will continue to argue for a northern Australia mutual or a disaster reinsurance pool to get a better outcome [for residents],” Mr Entsch told Parliament.

The taskforce’s final report is due by the end of November. Its interim report is available here.