Sounds like you have something you need to get off your chest?
No, although i find it hard to accept that the intent behind the legislation was to allow Pilots to qualifiy for an ATPL without ever having any real world command experience. If CAR 5.40 was to be considered as a correct and stand alone piece of legislation, what 404 is stating would be correct.
WRT the advertisment in the Australian for Pilots, it could be misleading, the wages for these guys have not changed eg,
Including Super (9%), the figure are/have been for sometime:
Conq a bit over $53K,
Metro a bit under $60K,
Bras a bit over $63K,
Dash 8 $72 odd and $75 odd.
These figure do not appear changed.
So the figures quotes in the advertisement are inclusive of:
1) base salaries as above,
2) $10-25K odd dollar "productivity bonus", not sure if its paid weekly, yearly, it does not even specifically rate a mention in the "Base Remuneration", so it is not a "salary", being a bonus, it could be withdrawn at any time.
3) Superannuation, so subtract 9% from all the above figures.
If you are concerned, perhaps you should give Rick Burton at the TWU a call: 0417 914 108, if you are not sure who he is, read the NJS/Cobham threads.