One of the things that most casual observers (and greedy GA wannabees) overlooked in 1989 - was that the work conditions enjoyed by the domestic & QF pilots then were a works in progress. Airline pilot conditions of service had not always been grand. They were the result of decades, even generations of hard work, tough negotiation and incremental improvement. The pilots of those eras understood solidarity. They stood together and the commonwealth rose through time as a result.
What Australia needs now is to re-invent the wheel.
AIPA & AFAP need to bury the past and get together as a comprehensive pilot union. Then they can join IFALPA and get on with the task of rebuilding, what was dashed by a greedy few in the last months of 1989. The task of the airline pilots in Australia today (QF + DJ + Jetstar) is to start the long slow task of rebuilding good terms and conditions of employment. Sadly it will take decades, even generations. But step one is to understand the need for solidarity. And then to translate that understanding into a comprehensive, cohesive body to represent pilots (from GA to Jumbos).
If this happened - I might even contemplate coming back to work in Australia again, because I might have finally regained some respect for Australian pilots.
p.s. I have always retained membership of the AFAP (after 15 years abroad) and am proudly a member of HKALPA and IFALPA.