MEDIA RELEASE: Eroding coastlines, rising costs--Bass Coast council calls on big polluters to pay for climate damage
Climate Media Centre
Bass Coast Shire Council has passed a motion calling on the Federal Government to introduce a levy on large fossil fuel companies, to cover the soaring costs of worsening climate disasters being borne by local councils and communities across Australia.
Councillor Mat Morgan, who moved the motion, said “We’ve been losing up to 10 metres of beach every year, and council has had to truck ‘sacrificial sand’ up and down the beach after every storm.
“We're watching coastal homes become uninsurable, and we’re putting up sand and rock bag walls while fossil fuel companies pocket billions in profits. When I was a kid I was always told if I broke something, I’d have to pay for it from my pocket money. Well Exxon, Santos, Woodside — how about it?”
Nationally, fires, floods and cyclones cost Australia $38 billion per year, equivalent to $3,800 per household. Australia’s first national climate risk assessment found 750,000 properties may become uninsurable by 2050, with 1.5 million Australians at risk from sea level rise.
“The climate risk assessment says we’re on track to wipe $611 billion off the Australian property market by 2050. You know which properties they’re referring to? Silverleaves, Inverloch, Grantville. In every one of our council wards. People in our coastal communities are watching their house values decrease, not knowing whether to cut their losses and sell now, or hold on in hope of a buyback scheme. It is only fair that the corporations whose pollution is driving this crisis contribute to fixing it,” said Cr Morgan.
The motion calls on the Federal Government to establish a Parliamentary Inquiry into the adequacy of the 2025 National Adaptation Plan, specifically addressing the lack of additional funding for local governments already bearing the brunt of costs for tackling the impacts of extreme weather events in local communities.
Aileen Vening, a retired geography teacher from Wonthaggi who has been documenting Inverloch’s coastal erosion for 15 years, said “I have been observing this coastline for many years. To witness the acceleration of erosion recently has been confronting. Since 2013, the beach at Inverloch has moved 80 metres inland and 80% of the vegetated dunes have been lost in the last 10 years. 100,000 cubic metres of sand is about to be dredged from Anderson Inlet and piped back to the surf beach just to hold the line — and that is only a middle-term fix if we are lucky enough to avoid another major storm.
“While some works are funded by federal and state governments, the weight of implementing ongoing and emergency works falls to our local government. Local governments and communities must also deal with the economic and mental health stresses that come with the uncertainty of not knowing what the next major storm will bring. The corporations whose pollution is driving sea level rise and intensifying the storms that are eating our coast need to contribute to fixing it. That is not radical, it is basic fairness.”
The motion makes Bass Coast one of a growing number of councils across Australia to formally back the Communities for Climate Compensation campaign, which is calling on the Federal Government to make big polluters contribute to fixing the harm their pollution causes, rather than leaving councils, ratepayers and households to foot the bill.
MEDIA CONTACT: Sean Kennedy, Senior Media Advisor, Climate Media Centre — 0447 121 378 — [email protected]
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BACKGROUND
• Bass Coast Shire Council passed its notice of motion on Wednesday 15 April 2026—the motion passed five votes to four.
• The Communities for Climate Compensation campaign is calling on the Federal Government to establish a National Climate Compensation Fund, financed through a levy on major coal, oil and gas corporations, to fund disaster recovery, infrastructure repair and community resilience.
• Fires, floods and cyclones currently cost Australia $38 billion per year — equivalent to $3,800 per household — rising to $73 billion projected by 2060.
• 434 of Australia’s 537 councils were impacted by climate-fuelled disasters between 2019 and 2023.
• Australia’s national climate risk assessment found 750,000 properties may become uninsurable by 2050, with $611 billion projected to be wiped from the Australian property market.
• Federal and state governments provide approximately $14.9 billion annually in fossil fuel subsidies — more than 14 times the nation’s $4.75 billion disaster response fund (Australia Institute, 2025).
• Santos reported ten consecutive years of zero corporate tax payments to 2024–25, despite $47 billion in sales.
• Coal, oil and gas corporations are responsible for three quarters of Australia’s climate pollution.
Contact details:
Sean Kennedy, Senior Media Advisor, Climate Media Centre — 0447 121 378 — [email protected]