The salary a CEO earns is justified given the enormous responsibility they have to the shareholders, employees and customers, not to mention the legal ramifications for making bad decisions.
No one wants to see Australian jobs go overseas, but he and the board made a decision that they believe to be the best for the company. If you do the wrong thing financially you could see Qantas go down the Ansett trail (they thought that would never happen!).
I don't have a viewpoint on whether Geoff is doing a good or poor job - I don't believe I am suitably qualified to make that judgement. What I do know is if you paid $400K for a CEO you would get someone sh!thouse and they'd make Dixon look like a god.
Given the experience guys like Dixon have in the business world, and the stress they face every day, $6M is justified.