Insurance challenges put outback pubs and communities at risk

The Thirsty Camel at Duchess, located 100 kilometres south of Mount Isa, is one of several pubs having to "run the gamble" as insurance companies allegedly turn their backs on the remote watering holes.

Bill and Rhoda Johnston have owned The Thirsty Camel for the last 24 years and for 22 of those years had no issue with insuring their business.

"We were insured for 22 years and then they just stopped," Mr Johnston said.

"Even if you wanted to pay the big money it would cost a minimum of $70,000, but our insurance broker went to every insurance company and no one would take us on.

"In the time we have owned the pub we have never made a claim, they just aren't insuring these pubs anymore."

The Duchess pub was built in the late 60s and has been a vital part of north west since.

"Bush pubs are critically important. We are 100 kilometres from the nearest town and provide more than just alcohol, we are also the mailman and we supply accommodation for people working down here.

"We just had a valuation done on this place and replacement value is $2.8million.

"It's not only these outback wooden pubs that they're not insuring, they're also not insuring the brick pubs either. You either run the gamble or carry the insurance yourself."

The higher cost of insuring a bush pub was too much at Urandangi, 200 kilometres south west of Mount Isa, where the town no longer exists following its demolition.

Pam Forster owned the Dangi Pub for 15 years but was forced to cancel her insurance due to an increase in fees.

"I insured the pub for the first two years but we had a flood that first year, not as big as the one we just had in 2023, but I had 10 weeks of no trading because of the water," Ms Forster said.

"When I contacted them about it there was a clause in there to do with no trade and they refused to pay out any money. From then I never insured it again for the next 12-13 years I was there because the price went from $5000 to $35,000 and I couldn't afford that.

"Insurance companies are rorting the system for those in the bush. They sit in their city offices and they've got no idea what we are doing out there to keep communities going and the country going. Most people I spoke to didn't even know where Urandangi was."

Sadly the Dangi Pub was demolished in 2023 after it was severely damaged when the Georgina River flooded.

"Floodwater swept through the pub and the whole town," Ms Forster said.

"We couldn't afford to rebuild it and in conjunction with my health, it was time to let go.

"We used to hold events four times a year and all the surrounding cattle stations would come in, it was a lovely time and we had a lot of entertainment like that."

The Dangi Pub was also the fuel station, general store, post office and Centrelink office.

"You were always kept busy but it was never going to make you a millionaire, you made a comfortable living," Ms Forster said.

"Since the pub was demolished the school has closed down because there were no kids left to go to school.

"Sadly there is nothing left in Urandangi now and other communities could face the same fate."

Member for Traeger Robbie Katter said there would be nothing left in these bush communities if the issue was not addressed.

"In the Traeger electorate we know, more than ever, what these pubs mean to towns. I have spoke to the Queensland Hotels Association about it, they are aware of the problem and have been working away at it trying to find a solution but there is nothing that stands out to me," Mr Katter said.

"The reinsurance pools for home insurance seem to be an answer, but they need to be managed and followed through by the government and not forgotten about.

"Urandangi effectively no longer exists because the pub shut down and we don't want that to happen to anywhere else. That's part of the reason why I did that big push to reduce pub licensing fees from $3000 to $300, because it is important to the social fabric of North Queensland."

Mr Katter said 20 per cent of North Queensland was not insured and despite best efforts of people on the ground, it is unattainable.

"The big guys are pricing themselves out of the market, I don't know if it's deliberately or not. For me the nature of insurance is you mitigate the cost, loss and exposure by averaging it out over the population, but people in Sydney and Melbourne their premiums aren't going up by 300-400 per cent.

"We are not getting wipe-outs every single year, there are losses all over the country and I thought that was the entire the point of insurance was it averaged the losses not just lumping it onto people so it is unaffordable."

Other bush pubs like Kynuna, McKinlay, Kajabbi, Quamby, Prairie and Greenvale, could all face the same fate, and Mr Katter said it would be a blow to North Queensland tourism.

"The government say they want to promote outback tourism, but there is no point if these pubs are closing, they are the centrepiece of all the tourist stop overs," he said.

"If you stopped in McKinlay and wanted to know what was happening around the region or needed somewhere to stay the night, without The Walkabout Creek Hotel there is nothing.

"They're the only reference points for these small towns, it is a big deal for the entire region if we don't look after them."

The North Queensland Register has contacted the Queensland Hotels Association for comment.