Al I agree with all your other points but to answer your question I think Ansett would still have gone belly up but perhaps a little later. I believe the impetus or willingness of various parties, including the government to keep Ansett as a going concern evaporated when
VB arrived.
In other words the pollies and others were probably justifiably frightened of an aviation vacuum post Ansett with QF the only player standing. Their constituents would not like the consequences. So once a promising new entrant was on the horizon support, moral, spiritual or financial also evaporated.
Your economic observations are correct.
As mentioned elsewhere....
LCC = Low Cost Carrier = Low Costs for the operator eg outsource everything!