There is another factor which is going to come into play into a pilot shortage - an instructor shortage.
I have a mate who wants to do his MECIR as part of a student loans diploma and had his name down at 2 places for intakes this month, both have been delayed until next year due to lack of instructors for new intakes. This is happening while Asian Airlines continue to increase training in Australia demanding more instructors and 'taking them away' from training Australia students. This is without any real significant shortage at the regional's of applicants, now imagine every instructor who has the minimums for qlink applies and gets in. Unless something changes this will severly limit the number of people training.