Whilst I think that NZ aircraft should keep out of Australian domestic services (and vice versa), the article in the Australian is just another example of the sort of backward thinking that pervades parts of the Oz (and NZ) aviation scene.
You can understand the FAs being concerned about their jobs, but the idea that reducing the number of FAs will have a major safety impact is a bit of a joke.
The article states:
It also recommended that a comparative assessment by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority of the safety records of Australia and New Zealand be completed prior to any changes being made to Australia's safety regulatory regime relating to large aircraft.
Why not a comparative assessment with the rest of the world? They all seem to think that 1:50 is OK.
The NZ standard is an international standard. The Oz standard isn't, and is another example of the insular shortsightedness you often get from Antipodean countries.
I remember the story that used to go around Heathrow... apparently CASA (or whatever it was then) refused to certify Qantas 747 ops into Heathrow until they had measured and surveyed the airport themselves. They couldn't trust those dodgy Brits to measure it properly, oh no. Never mind that the rest of the world had been flying 747s into LHR for years before QF came along...
It is shortsighted and foolish. Just for once, why not recognise that the rest of the world does, in fact, know what it is talking about.