Peter’s farm is on ‘flood country’. As Australia’s sea levels rise, safe land is vanishing and costs are huge

# Why This Matters Australia's coastal property crisis represents one of the most consequential economic and social disruptions the nation will face this century. The projected 267,000 flooded properties translate directly into hundreds of thousands of displaced residents, collapsed property values in affected zones, and cascading damage to critical infrastructure—ports, roads, power plants, and water systems that service major population centers. Beyond individual cases like Peter's farm, this scenario threatens Australia's agricultural sector, tourism economy, and urban centers like Sydney and Melbourne, potentially erasing trillions in national wealth while creating a new category of climate refugees within Australia's own borders. The financial and political pressure will force difficult decisions about which communities deserve protection through expensive seawalls or other adaptation measures, and which will be effectively abandoned, raising urgent questions about government responsibility and equity that policymakers have largely avoided confronting.