Thousands of Australians are stranded across the globe, but the government will subsidise international flights to bring them home.

A deal has been made with Qantas and Virgin Australia to underwrite the losses for four international routes: Auckland, Los Angeles, Hong Kong, and London.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne tells Deborah Knight keeping international flights accessible for stranded Australians is crucial.

“Our international flights are vital to bringing Australians home… and also to ensure that we are still able to move exports and take in imports through air freight. 

“It’s critical to our economy, it’s critical to our supply chain [and providing] the sorts of things people still want to see in the stores.”

Minister Payne says the government is still working on helping Australians outside of those key hubs and in the meantime, they should follow the rules.

“I would encourage Australians who are overseas to be very careful, to follow the rules of the countries in which they find themselves, which, by the way, I would say are also subject to quite constant change.”

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Image: Getty