Gaunty, I think you may be right.
For some time I have thought that the way Australia "trains" its pilots for airlines is out of step with what the airlines actually want.
A few years ago I was talking with a QANTAS check and training captain who explained their rationale for the company's requirements. Basically it was to get staff before they had developed too many bad habits that would be expensive to remove. Bad habits that time in GA develops.
Why is the requirement still there for 500 hours multi-engine command? Why aren't single-engine turbine hours considered the equivalent? Why does Australia continue to denigrate the cadet approach taken in Europe and the United States when by all accounts it works in an environment that is far less conducive to aviation than Australia?
I really doubt that several years in GA gives you any advantage in flying an airline except a very cynical approach to employers.
Please do not think this is the rant of someone who has been rejected by an airlines or cannot get the qualifications. Many years ago I did want to go there but events took another turn. Now I would not go there even if it were possible. These are just the observations of someone who looks a bit more dispassionately at the industry most of us are involved in.