They seem to be positioning the regional arm up for some form of government help. Pull the old, give us cash or we are cutting off these towns. Seen that before across many industries.
Very unlikely, as QLink has moved in on a lot of the routes dumped, albeit with less frequency, but the government won't care as long as there is a service a few times a week. You will not be able to get a subsidy if somebody else is already doing the work. As I said earlier the only way out of this hole is to spend big, on both pilots and engineers, poach them back, or dwindle into oblivion.
The days of using Rex as a 5-10 year stopover point after a GA stint is gone. Perhaps 1-2 years tops. Some rusted on Rex Management pilots might be the only people left to crew the LHS in the long run. If they offered new hires some form of 737 transition program, people might hang around.
737 transition program will mean nothing if you can get your 2 years experience on the SAAB and jump ship to QF or VA and be set for higher salaries immediately.
Australia and the USA are just catching up with the rest of the world where airlines will have to pay for pilots from scratch, train them and then provide incentives that they don't leave.