Banking and Financial Services

The majority voted against a motion introduced by Queensland Senator Larissa Waters (Greens), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

(i) the ability to secure finance and insurance is a crucial step in the development of large-scale resources projects, providing protection for developers, government and the community,

(ii) Suncorp last week announced that it would no longer invest in, finance or insure new thermal coal mines and power plants, and will not underwrite any existing thermal coal projects after 2025,

(iii) QBE Insurance announced in March that, from 1 July 2019, it would no longer directly invest in or insure new thermal coal projects and would stop underwriting existing operations from 2030,

(iv) all Australian-based insurance companies have now effectively committed to removing coal from their investment portfolios, and

(v) many major multi-national re-insurance providers, including Allianz, AXA, Swiss Re, Munich Re and Zurich, have also restricted investment in, and underwriting of, thermal coal projects; and

(b) calls on the Federal Government to:

(i) pay attention to the financial signals and recognise that thermal coal projects are increasingly unviable, and

(ii) commit to action to progress a rapid and just transition to clean and renewable energy sources for a low-carbon economy.