A freight bottleneck in Tasmania’s rural sector has left about 10,000 sheep stranded in Tasmania; dry conditions have forced farmers to sell their stock, but it has clashed with the busy freight period leading up to Christmas which means shipping companies do not have space for exporting stock.
Labor claims it is a crisis but the Government rejects this. Labor’s Rebecca White said interstate buyers were not able to transport stock because of a shipping shortage.
“That’s leaving farmers stranded with livestock they’ve got to continue to feed, or the buyers have got to lease land,” she said.