pianokeys
Not correct mate.
That Freedom was pulled from PMR, and the reduced/loss of Tasman flying out of HLZ and DUD is simply because the NZ public did not support it enough. The AirNZ group persevered with and subsequently lost a lot of money from these ports with what had in effect become "spoiler" flights to discourage other carriers. Freedom/Zeal management did a lot of lobbying and talking to the regional councils and business leaders for a long time with the "use it or lose it" message. I know they struggled long and hard the decision to pull out and possibly leave a gap for others.
Remember that Ozjet jumped at the chance to go to PMR. I dont think even one flight was made.
If you had checked the websites (NZ, SJ and others) prior to March last year, you would have seen that Freedom was often not that competitive compared to some of the fares available from the main centres.
Virtually all of Freedoms custom was very price sensitive holidaymakers. Due to Emerites and others, the number of empty seats crossing the Tasman has been staggering and something simply had to give.
There are quite a few other significant reasons also, but your assertions above are not quite right.