Australia's natural disasters cost economy nearly $3.5 billion

Australia's treasurer Jim Chalmers said that floods and natural disasters in 2022 cost the economy $5 billion Australian ($3.48 billion), Reuters reported. Australia suffered four major bouts of flooding last year that damaged infrastructure and crops, with Munich Reinsurance Co. estimating that February and March flooding across northern New South Wales state was the fourth-most costly global disaster in 2022.