I believe consulates do help with this sort of thing, if you’re in a position to pay them back.
Germans, French and Brit government did that last year when Covid started up. They even got various airlines to do cut-rate deals and bring their folks home.
I will admit...I’ve never heard a word over New Zealand or Australia in this type of strategy. Adding to this...a typical round-trip ticket (Dallas to Sydney)...runs about $2,500 to $3,000 per seat.