PUNITIVE insurance premiums are holding the State's north back from economic glory, Premier Campbell Newman says. His MPs will hold a meeting to determine just how they can reduce the insurance burden on homeowners and businesses including unit owners, who claim their premiums have increased by 300 to 800 per cent in recent, disaster-prone years. Everything is on the table including a possible moratorium on the state-levied insurance duty which was increased this financial year from 7 per cent to 9.5 per cent to raise an additional $195 million. "We can't have growth in north Queensland and far north Queensland while it's being held back by almost punitive levels of insurance premiums," Mr Newman said. "There's got to be some mechanisms, some policy changes, some rules and regulations for the insurance industry which mean that people in the north see competition coming back in."