Stranded Australians promised free quarantine on return face $5,000 government bill
Officials understood to be unprepared for some returnees on evacuation flights to have been stuck overseas for so long they became ineligible for free stay
Stranded Australians who were promised their hotel quarantine fees in Sydney would be waived if they flew home on tickets booked before 13 July are now being told by the government to pay for their 14-day stay in Darwin – in some cases more than $5,000 – after the commercial flight they booked was cancelled.
Some stranded Australians have been forced to decline seats on specially organised government repatriation flights after being told the free quarantine stays are “not applicable” if they accept the government’s offer to repatriate them via the Howard Springs quarantine camp.
Read the original article at The Guardian