The pilots were never going to sit back, wear the uniform, fly a red tailed jet, operate within the Qantas eco system and accept inequitable conditions. This moment was always coming.
So now Qantas has a choice. Netlink has grown too big to wind up. It has leverage with the amount of flying that has been issued to it. Qantas can either merge it into shorthaul, and use it to build from with the incoming A321s.
Not a chance of a merger. Q know all they have to do is sweeten the deal slightly and they get the EA over the line.