Two hundred sheep have been killed in a truck fire near a remote town in western New South Wales.
A truck fire broke out on the Mitchell Highway at Girilambone, north of Nyngan and 610km north-west of Sydney, about 12.50am on Saturday.
NSW police officers attended and found a road train well alight, and NSW Fire and Rescue firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze.
Police said that the driver, a 32-year-old man, was uninjured. However, on board the truck were 200 sheep, which perished in the blaze.
According to Live Traffic, the highway was closed in both directions until about 8.15am, with the Rural Fire Service, Transport for NSW and a heavy vehicle tow truck attending.
Inquiries into the circumstances of the fire were ongoing, police said.
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The news comes as the federal government has announced it would phase out the live export of sheep by sea, to end on 1 May 2028, a date recommended by an independent panel.
Anthony Albanese defended the move on Wednesday at a press conference, stating that Australia could “create more jobs” by moving from live exports to the sheep meat export trade.
“I think that this is an industry [where] if you compare $80m for live exports with $4bn – which is what the sheep meat export industry is worth – I think that indicates where the industry needs to go,” the prime minister said. “We want to make sure that people are looked after and that people work with industry on that.”
Independent polling commissioned by the RSPCA in May 2023 found that 71% of Western Australians supported the policy to phase out live sheep export by sea.
The Nationals party has been demanding the government reinstate the live export trade, as the National Farmers Federation plans a rally to Canberra on Tuesday.
The federation is campaigning against the ban on live sheep exports by sea, among other issues. The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, said the party “100% support[s]” farmers attending the rally.
