Australia is still a very lucrative place to be an airline pilot in comparison.
I seriously disagree with that statement.
Airline pilots' salaries in Oz, in comparison with cost of living expenses don't appear "very lucrative" when compared with salaries of pilots in other many countries, imho.
eg. pilots in Viet Nam, India, and China, are on MUCH higher salaries than most Australian airline pilots, but have MUCH lower cost of living expenses, leaving a vastly higher final disposable amount.