Victorians pay the world’s highest taxes on their insurance policies, according to a new Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu report. Worst off are country residents, with 45% of their premiums going on taxes. Melbourne residents pay 42%. Some comparisons: France 9%; the UK 5%, Canada 3.5%, the US 2.4%, and Hong Kong and Japan (nothing at all).

Peter Jamvold, the Insurance Council’s new Melbourne-based Group Manager Southern Division, pounced on the report to highlight excessive insurance taxes in Tasmania, the ACT and Victoria. “The cost of insurance is a major concern for insurers and policyholders,” he said.