The lingering effect of pandemic supply chain bottlenecks has caused a surge in imported cars requiring strict quarantine cleans after being unloaded at ports around Australia, sometimes adding another six weeks to waiting times for frustrated customers.

Ben Pratt, corporate affairs director at Qube, the stevedore company that manages Port Kembla, said there had been a significant increase in the number of vehicles arriving in Australian ports contaminated by seeds and other potential biosecurity risks because many were stored in paddocks and fields overseas at the height of the pandemic.