I wouldn't hold my breath wating for the aviation "specialists" from The Australian or other mainstream press to do anything resembling 'investigative reporting", including asking hard, pointed questions.
Sandilands appears to be the only scribe around who's willing to dig a bit. As for the rest, I think "public interest" and "truth" are foreign concepts.
I think there's a story here that would unearth some embarrassing facts, if what I've read is correct - and I don't doubt it is; particularly the longstanding predictions by the union regarding shortages. My take is that this is Tricky Dicky stuff. Unfortunately, we don't have a mainstream reporter that could find the aviation equivalent of his ass with both hands.