A lack of responses has led to a Senate report on the insurance arrangements of the state and territory governments and the flood levy to be delayed until June 30.

The Economics References Committee had been asked to conduct an inquiry and report back to the Senate today.

But in a letter to the Senate President, committee chairman Alan Eggleston says that while it has requested documentation from the Queensland Government relating to arrangements it may have made to insure or reinsure state assets, “the committee has not as yet received a response from the Queensland Government”.

Mr Eggleston says the committee is also awaiting a response from Aon Benfield, after “requesting any information it may have on offers or proposals of insurance or reinsurance for Queensland’s state assets”.

In requesting the postponement, Mr Eggleston writes: “It is crucial that the committee receives and analyses documentation from the Queensland Government and other parties on the state government’s arrangements or offers to insure state assets.”

As of April 20, only two submissions had been received for the inquiry – one from the Commonwealth Grants Commission and another from a Melbourne academic.

Aside from public hearings in Queensland, which the committee was directed to hold, it will also hold an additional public hearing in Canberra to hear from Treasury, the Commonwealth Grants Commission, the Insurance Council of Australia and others, Mr Eggleston says.   

The committee was directed to examine the provisions of the flood levy bills, the current insurance and reinsurance arrangements of the states and territories of their assets and infrastructure, and the appropriateness of fiscal arrangements for natural disaster reconstruction efforts after concerns were raised over the lack of commercial insurance cover held by the Queensland Government after the January floods.