The federal government has unveiled a $1.2 billion tourism package as part of its bid to drive economic recovery in pandemic-hit industries and regions when the JobKeeper wage subsidy is cancelled at the end of the month.

Australian travellers will have access to hundreds of thousands of half-price airfares to more than a dozen tourism-reliant regions, subsidised by the government as part of the package announced tonight.

Other headline measures include bigger loans to JobKeeper-reliant small businesses — including a two-year repayment holiday — and direct assistance to help Qantas and Virgin keep workers employed and planes ready to fly overseas again.

READ MORE: How to get your half-price flight and what destinations will count

The measures, revealed on Wednesday night, will see taxpayers subsidising flights to and from destinations such as the Gold Coast, Cairns, Alice Springs and Launceston as closed international borders and intermittent state border closures keep tourists away.

FULL LIST OF ROUTES BELOW

The government stresses demand will drive the number of tickets but expects to subsidise about 46,000 airfares a week, to a total of 800,000.

On top of the obvious benefits to airlines, tourism operators and travel agents, the plan is designed to support accommodation and hospitality businesses in the hardest-hit regions when the JobKeeper subsidy runs out on March 28.

The government now says bout 650,000 employers and 2.7 million employees have graduated from the JobKeeper program since September last year, up from about 520,000 and 2.13 million at the last update.

But of all JobKeeper recipients not working or working only a few hours a week, about 20 per cent are employed in cafes, restaurants, travel agencies, tour operators or airlines, according to government figures. 

READ MORE: Treasurer rejects JobKeeper extension for struggling tourism sector

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said while the economy had recovered 85 per cent of its pandemic slump, the package was designed to help the worst-affected to bridge the gap back to normal.

"This is our ticket to recovery – 800,000 half-price airfares to get Australians travelling and supporting tourism operators, businesses, travel agents and airlines who continue to do it tough through COVID-19, while our international borders remain closed," he said, in a statement.

"This package will take more tourists to our hotels and cafes, taking tours and exploring our backyard."

Tourism and aviation support at a glance

• To run from April 1 to July 31
• 50 per cent discount on domestic fares – travel to and from the locations will be subsidised
• Routes are based on being reliant on tourism for Gross Domestic Product and particularly dependent on aviation for tourism during April to July
• Demand drives number of tickets and locations the flights will depart from, but estimated average of 46,000 discounted fares per week
• Tickets available from airline websites from April 1
• Any air operator who has operated the routes in the previous two years will be eligible, but mostly Qantas, Virgin, Jetstar and some others

Package comes with plea to keep borders open

The changes to small business loans tighten the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme to apply to only businesses receiving JobKeeper in the March quarter but given an increase to the maximum size of a loan from $1 million to $5 million.

The turnover cut-off for eligible businesses also increases, from $50 million up to $250 million, and the government has pledged to guarantee 80 per cent of each loan, up from the current 50/50 split with banks.

The government says the direct airline assistance will last from April 1 until October 31, when international flights are expected to resume. 

It's designed to keep 8600 international airline workers in jobs and planes ready to take to the skies again, in exchange for an assurance from Qantas and Virgin that they will maintain a set level of international flight readiness.

Some tourism industry figures had been calling for a JobKeeper-style package targeted specifically at the industry, as health experts warned not to expect a return to widespread international travel until the end of 2021 or even later.

The Tourism & Transport Forum had called for a $7.7 billion package stretching to the end of the year, to get the industry back to 75 per cent of 2019 levels.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, whose state is home to several of the nation's most tourism-reliant regions, had also called for a JobKeeper extension.

She warned Cairns in particular, one of several Queensland regions targeted in the new package, had 10,000 businesses on JobKeeper "concerned they are going to fall off a cliff" at the end of March.

Announcing the new package, Tourism Minister Dan Tehan took the opportunity to reiterate government calls for states to find more consistency on border closures.

"Our government's support package will help get more Australians into those tourist areas most impacted by border lockdowns," he said.

"And we need states and territories to do their part by agreeing to a nationally consistent approach to using border closures and lockdowns as a last resort on medical advice."

Discounted flight routes

The government warns these may change depending on airline negotiations and demand:

Gold Coast (Queensland)

• Adelaide – Gold Coast
• Melbourne – Gold Coast
• Sydney – Gold Coast
• Canberra – Gold Coast
• Avalon – Gold Coast

Tropical North Queensland (Queensland)

• Melbourne – Cairns
• Sydney – Cairns
• Darwin – Cairns

Whitsundays and Mackay region (Queensland)

• Sydney – Proserpine
• Sydney – Hamilton Island
• Sunshine Coast (Queensland)
• Sydney – Maroochydore
• Melbourne – Maroochydore
• Adelaide – Maroochydore

Lasseter and Alice Springs (Northern Territory)

• Adelaide – Alice Springs
• Sydney – Uluru
• Brisbane – Alice Springs
• Melbourne – Alice Springs
• Perth – Alice Springs
• Sydney – Alice Springs
• Brisbane – Uluru
• Melbourne – Uluru

Launceston, Devonport and Burnie (Tasmania)

• Melbourne – Launceston
• Sydney – Launceston
• Brisbane – Launceston
• Melbourne – Devonport
• Melbourne – Burnie

Broome (Western Australia)

• Darwin – Broome
• Sydney – Broome
• Melbourne – Broome

Avalon (Victoria)

• Gold Coast – Avalon
• Sydney – Avalon

Merimbula (New South Wales)

• Melbourne – Merimbula

Kangaroo Island (South Australia)

• Adelaide – Kingscote

A grandfather has died after he was driven from the scene of a crash in the back of a car in Adelaide.

John Hadley, 45, was travelling down an Enfield street at about 2am before he lost control and came off his motorbike, the vehicle coming to rest up to 50 metres from him.

Residents, woken by the noise, ran outside to find Hadley wedged under a parked van.

READ MORE: Second rider on board during fatal motorcycle crash

As they called for help, a car pulled up alongside.

"There were friends of him that came and tried to pull him out from underneath the van," the van owner told 9News.

A woman, believed to be a relative, took matters into her own hands.

"She grabbed him, shoved him in the back along with a man, said, 'yeah,yeah, he's okay', then drove off," the van owner's daughter said.

"We all looked at each other, like, stunned."

READ MORE: Perth traffic controller's leg amputated after alleged hit and run

Hadley was driven almost five kilometres to Mark Court in Ingle Farm, where he collapsed.

Paramedics made it out, but it was too late to save Mr Radley's life.

Major crash officers have spoken with those involved in taking Mr Radley away from the scene, and are now investigating the circumstances that led to his death.

Woolworths says majority of its self-serve checkouts are working again after a chaotic afternoon caused by a nation-wide outage.

"Following IT issues this afternoon, the majority of our self-serve checkouts have now returned to normal operation nationwide, with the rest expected to follow later this evening," the supermarket said.

"We would like to thank our customers for their patience as we worked to fix the issue and we apologise for the inconvenience.

"Our stores have remained open and we've continued to process transactions through the checkouts operated by our team members."

https://twitter.com/woolworths/status/1369549487652311047

The potential for Brisbane to host the 2032 Olympic Games is strengthening with the International Olympic Committee meeting tonight to further discussions.

All 103 members of the committee will convene via Zoom, to hear why the Queensland capital should be the preferred host city.

Nine News can exclusively reveal Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner have recorded a joint message for committee members, publicly backing the bid.

READ MORE: Olympic Games a 'game-changer' for Queensland: Palaszczuk

Part of Nine's 'The Sporting Bubble' – a documentary about how the 2020 AFL season was saved – will be played to the IOC, highlighting Queensland's ability to keep high-level sport going during the coronavirus pandemic.

A special task force has been created to finalise the venue master plan and key decisions include checking the viability of the $2 billion Brisbane Arena at Roma Street.

They will also decide whether to renovate the Gabba or build a new stadium at Albion Park Raceway which will mean construction of a major transport line, likely a train network.