I understand your anger guys, but ther is an election on! the govt has to be seen to be taking a pro-active stance dont they? Whether they mean what they say will be proven in the months after the election. Dont get too wound up by an election promise from politicians!! Are you the only two people in Australia that believe election promises from either party? If you are, I would like to welcome you to the Australian democratic process comrades, I hope your boat trip from Iraq wasnt too uncomfortable.
As for preferential treatment with other carriers, there is a three fold benefit that I can see for both QF and DJ. They get experienced endorsed crews for minimal investment, they get to pick what they consider to be the better of the operators out of the AN system so that if MarkII does get going, they dont have the crews to do it, making rebuilding very expensive, and they get positive press, allowing them to stand up and say "We are the good guys, look what we did to help out!" Win, Win Win.