It has been said many times before; there is a shortage of pilots willing to work long hours for mediocre pay in Australia, not a shortage of pilots overall, yet. There are some exceptions to this, but generally, pilots are at the transition point where the group think is overpowering the IR/HR games. The only thing preventing this from being a rapid change is the highly resourced IR/HR departments who have been tasked with the job of perpetuating the myth that "times are tough" etc.
The party was long and we all drank in the myth to excess, but we are now waking up and seeing that the beauty we fell so easily for last night was really some bloke wearing a wig and a dress. The hangover will be very entertaining to watch from here.