Retaining the MBF is a bit of a red herring. Qantas already provides loss of licence insurance to Qantas mainline pilots and you can’t claim on two policies (it’s called offsetting). So there is no need for a Qantas pilot to have the AFAP MBF
Most pilots who want to stay in the MBF do so because of the promise of getting their contributions back when they retire. It is the single biggest factor in most pilots minds when they consider leaving the AFAP, and why the Feds are unlikely to open the MBF up to non members. They would immediately increase the risk of losing members.
This is also an insight into the psyche of pilots where they look to their unions more as an income protection provider rather than an industrial representative.
I have found it perplexing that pilots are far more concerned about a policy which very few pilots will ever utilise, than they are about the document they work under everyday.