Council cites a $130 million landslip bill and coastal erosion
A $130 million landslip bill and worsening coastal erosion have driven Newcastle councillors to back a climate compensation push aimed at making coal and gas exporters help fund disaster recovery.
City of Newcastle passed a motion on 28th July calling on the Federal Government to establish a National Climate Compensation Fund. The motion passed 11 votes to two.
The council is also seeking a Parliamentary Inquiry into the adequacy of the 2025 National Adaptation Plan, a dedicated funding stream for local governments tied to the financial risks identified in the 2025 National Climate Risk Assessment, and a Climate Pollution Levy on coal and gas export corporations.
Deputy Lord Mayor Charlotte McCabe said the costs were already hitting councils and ratepayers. “These are not hypothetical future costs. They are landing on council budgets and ratepayers right now.”
Newcastle’s 2025 New Lambton landslip left 16 properties uninhabitable after 198 millimetres of rain fell on the night of the landslip. City of Newcastle estimates restoration will cost more than $130 million.
Federal levy and inquiry sought
McCabe said Newcastle was calling for coal and gas corporations to “pay their fair share” as the home of the world’s largest coal port. She said council had also had to ask the community to weigh retreat from assets including footpaths and roads against sea wall protections along beaches between Bar Beach and Merewether.
Nationally, fires, floods and cyclones cost Australia $38 billion a year, and 434 of Australia’s 537 councils were impacted by climate-fuelled disasters between 2019 and 2023.
The Australia Institute has found insured losses from climate-related disasters have risen more than 12 times in 20 years, while local government revenues have grown only three times over the same period.
Tuesday night’s vote makes Newcastle the tenth council to call on the Federal Government to make major polluters contribute to climate damage costs. Bayside and Tweed Shire councils passed similar motions this month, and councillors across Australia unanimously backed the National Climate Compensation Fund at the Australian Local Government Association’s National General Assembly on 24th June 2026.
