As a slightly under 200 hour CPL student who is almost 40 years old and wanted to fly since 2 (and i'm sure there are many of us out there), i would be happy to fly turboprops for the rest of my life.
I understand that the pay and T&C's for Aussie pilots is crap compared to pilots in other countries and from where i'm sitting right now i see that this will change as the airlines don't have much choice. This means that young people may well see aviation as a good career choice again. But not at the moment.
I can't understand the mindset of companies like REX who would rather have aircraft sitting on the ground than pay their pilots more money or better T&C's. Surely an aircraft sitting on the ground is costing money in terms of lost passenger revenue as well as the maintenance required to keep it airworthy. I know from working on military jets that if they sit still for even a few weeks, then they need a good seeing over before they can fly again. I think Qantaslink and Rex will have to wake up soon. The writing is on the wall.
Like I already mentioned, i would be happy to fly turboprops forever. better than sitting at a desk all day.