As much of Victoria battled floods over the past month, warning were also in place parts of South Australia, New South Wales and Tasmania, all of which have started calculating the cost of flood damage.

The Federal Opposition leader Bill Shorten renewed calls for more money to be invested in flood mitigation.

Dr Jamie Pittock is an expert in environmental management and water policy at the Australian National University.  He says we have to be smarter about how we manage and mitigate floods. 'We need to pay for betterment. To build things back bigger, higher, stronger, so that they're not washed away next time'.

Listen to Dr Jamie Pittock discussing this topic on ABC radio.