🦎 Floods remove $42.2 billion of value

Are these the best pies in the Latrobe Valley?

Author

Jacob Wallace
November 05, 2025

⏱️ This midweek edition of our newsletter is a 6-minute read.

👋 Hello Gippslanders, it’s Jacob.

🍾 It’s only going to be a short midweek newsletter this week because of the public holiday yesterday. I hope you all made the most of your day off and got some much needed relaxation in.

🗞️ Even though it’s a slower week I’ve still got a few stories to share with you as well as our usual events and farmers markets lists.

Brief summary 👀

⛈️ Last Friday I published a story on new research that shows increases in severe flooding have devalued Australian houses by $42.2 billion.

🎤 I interviewed South Gippsland councillor and Venus Bay resident Sarah Gilligan who spoke about her experience with flooding on the peninsula and what solutions she would like to see implemented from the state government.

✍️ I also spoke to Climate Council analyst Ben McLeod who told me:

  • “Increasingly, we're seeing entire communities which are becoming uninsurable. While many people do have insurance for their homes, often people who are most at risk of disasters either can't afford insurance or can't get insurance at all.”

🥧 In other news, I finally managed to visit the most recommended pie shop I’ve seen in the comments of my bakery review videos: Missen Links Burgers in Traralgon. I stopped there and tasted two of their burgers and, I’ve got to say, they did not disappoint.

🎊 WHAT’S ON THIS WEEK 🎟️

🧺 FARMERS MARKETS 🥧

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🚀 Alright, let’s jump into the Monitor’s latest yarns, local interviews and silly videos!

📰 STORIES THIS WEEK ✍️

An increasing number of Australian homes are facing a severe risk of flooding, with property values around the country dropping by $42.2 billion according to a new report from the Climate Council and property data firm PropTrack.

The difference in storms: Venus Bay resident and South Gippsland councillor Sarah Gilligan said she’s noticed storm surges getting higher for about six years now.

Two years ago, she witnessed water rise over the top of the Venus Bay levee wall, which runs the length of the first and second estates of the peninsula, for the first time.

Now, Gilligan is coming to terms with the possibility of not passing on her house to her kids.

🗣️ “The idea of passing the family home onto the children, I've had to let go of that,” Gilligan told the Monitor. “Our Australian identity is so wrapped up in this laid back coastal lifestyle, and it's under threat.”

What happened: Floods have wiped out $42.2 billion from the value of Australian homes, according to a new report by the Climate Council and property data firm PropTrack.

  • Out of the two million flood-prone houses across Australia, at least 70 percent have had their values reduced by flood risk.

  • As of April 2025, the median value of a typical home (three-bedrooms and two-bathrooms) in a flood-prone zone was $75,000 less than the same home without flood risk.

  • One in six Australian homes are at risk of flooding - that’s 11.7 million residential properties.

  • In Victoria, 8.7 percent of homes (255,704 properties) are at risk.

Climate Council Analyst Ben McLeod told the Monitor: “Australian communities are built on rivers, lakes and on the ocean. One in six homes around Australia are at some risk of flooding, and Victoria is no different.”

Read the whole story here or take a look at the video I made of the story below.

LOOKING NATIONALLY 👀

I really enjoyed this skit my colleague Archie Milligan put together around the Albanese government requiring the help of the Coalition or the Greens to put together it’s new environmental protection laws.

Checkout the National Accounts instagram page and take a look at the skit below.

🚗 While travelling around the region chatting to locals I’ve been trying to locate the best bakery pie in all of Gippsland. Many of the comments on my videos told me Missen Link Burgers in Traralgon was worth checking out. Take a look at my video review below.

Thanks for catching up with us this week at the Monitor. I hope you enjoyed this issue, and if you have anything you’d like to share with us feel free to shoot us an email at [email protected] 

I’ll be back in your inbox on Friday with plenty more local stories, food reviews and fun yarns, so stay tuned.

Cheers,
Jacob & the Gippsland Monitor team