Oh I love these sorts of threads.
Let's start with a few facts.
No line Qantas pilot gets paid a salary. They get paid at an hourly rate like any other award worker. So when you hear that a SO grossed 160K ;then to do that he must have flown X amount of hours at that hourly rate plus Y amount of over-time at that hourly rate. The SO Hourly rate is based on appropriately negotiated relativities to other ranks and aircraft types
Pilot pay has already been featured heavily on other threads here, with the general thrust that someone who invests as heavily as pilots do in their own careers, should be remunerated properly for it. So when you say that on one hand then criticise what SO's are paid with the other hand, it doesn't make a lot of sense.
Qantas SO's get paid less than the FO's and extra Captains are paid in a lot of other companies for doing the same job. Qantas SAVES a lot by employing SO's at their current rate.
Will the CC crew who insist on sticking their oar in on this matter please desist. It has nothing to do with you and you leave yourself open to comparisons that are largely odious and meaningless. The experience and qualifications needed to hold either job are totally different. We happen to inhabit the same workspace, with the shared goal of a safe and efficient operation.... but the jobs are TOTALLY different.