Labor calls on disaster relief boss to resign for criticising flood victims who want ‘to live among the gum trees’

National Recovery and Resilience Agency coordinator general Shane Stone says the taxpayer ‘cannot continue to pick up the bill for these huge, catastrophic damage events’. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Labor has called on the disaster relief agency boss, Shane Stone, to resign over comments appearing to blame people who “want to live among the gum trees” for the cost of recovering from catastrophic floods.

The shadow minister for emergency management, Murray Watt, made the call on Friday, as debate rages over the viability of insuring disaster-prone areas and whether the government should expand its $10bn reinsurance scheme to assist victims of floods and bushfires outside northern Australia.