lowerlobe,
What is Jetstar Asia? Please forgive my ignorance and fill me in. When will they start operating, what routes, what aircraft, etc.
radiation junkie,
You say "J*domestic is underpinned by Q domestic and could not survive on it's own". That statement cannot possibly be true when J*domestic has 30-40% lower costs than Qantas domestic.
You seem to be attributing all Qantas IR woes to WorkChoices.
The campaign to restore Qantas viability began long before WorkChoices came in. In fact, if WorkChoices had been around 3 years ago, GD may not have opted to go via the Jetstar route to reduce the cost of his workforce - he could have just sacked ("for operational reasons") all those staff that refused to take a pay cut.
WorkChoices will make Australia more internationally competitive and will lower unemployment in Australia. It will reduce the wages of some but only the lazy need fear for their job security. Compensating for the reduced wages are other, less tangible benefits.
You also say that "if the money hadn't been wasted on J* but reinvested in Qantas", then Qantas would have been "just as profitable, if not more so".
You are wrong and do not appreciate just how much revenue is required to keep a full service operation like Qantas profitable. Where would that revenue have come from, given that some other LCC(s) would have started up had Jetstar not done so?