Speeeedy
The reason that more pilots are required for long haul is that a much higher utilisation of the aircraft is achieved when they are used internationally. Approx 80% of domestic aircraft sit on the ground at night (which is why the maintenance schedules are designed around this availability) whereas international aircxraft operate through the night. There is also a factor where some destinations don't have a high service frequency which results in inefficient utilisation of crews.
The Short Haul award has provision for pilots to bid for additional hours (ie additional pay) to the point that the available hours can be flown by less pilots than would be required if everyone flew the planning divisor hours. This is at the expense of their peers gaining promotion to First Officer or Captain. The Long Haul award has financial penalties in place that forces the company to man the aircraft correctly and won't give pilots excessive additional hours (unless absolutely necessary) because of those penalties. This is a much farer system as it takes away the greed factor.
Everybody knew that as Qantas had bought the highest Max BRW version of the A330 then the aircraft would end up doing Long Haul flying under the protections of the Long Haul award. For anybody to complain about a perceived pay drop because they expected the aircraft to remain on the Short Haul award displays a certain amount of naievity. The original rate of pay for the A330 was established as "B747 Classic + 3%" - a Long Haul credit hour rate which was converted to a Short Haul stick hour rate. Consequently, there can be no valid argument over the conversion from Short Haul to Long Haul as the rate has simply reverted to the agreed rate.