Federal MP Warren Entsch has labelled the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) “opportunistic” over its push for more funding of mitigation programs.

ICA last week published a top-20 list of federal seats most prone to flood risk, and Mr Entsch’s Leichhardt electorate in north Queensland ranks eighth.

“It’s very opportunistic… I think they use this as a means to justify their gouging and their excessive pricing,” Mr Entsch told insuranceNEWS.com.au today.

“This has been a problem we have been facing in northern Australia for well over a decade and the only solution being offered by the Insurance Council, which is really only a voice-piece for the [industry], is mitigation.

“And, of course, the mitigation is always at the expense of either the taxpayers or the policyholders.”

He says previous mitigation projects have yet to translate into premium savings for policyholders.

“There is a lot of work being done, federal and state, on mitigation, but you’re not seeing… any reflection in reductions in premiums. The reality is any amount of mitigation that is done is never reflected in any sort of reasonable reduction in premiums.”

The list marks another phase in ICA’s push for the funding of mitigation programs, before a federal election expected in May.

“The implementation of flood mitigation measures has been an ongoing call by ICA,” spokesman Campbell Fuller told insurance NEWS.com.au.

“Now is a good time to gather momentum for mitigation measures while the Townsville monsoonal [flood] is top of mind and the federal election is imminent.”

Queensland is home to 16 of the districts most vulnerable to catastrophic flooding and cyclones, and NSW has four, according to the ICA list.

The seat of Herbert in Queensland, which includes Townsville, tops the list with 55,460 land parcels deemed as exposed to frequent and severe flooding.