When Sherm was a younger pilot, if you were approaching 28 and hadn't yet been hired by a "major"....you were dead meat.
The then majors, AN Group, EWA, TN and Qantas had everything stitched up. Rigid seniority, all AFAP members, common terms and conditions. And as for cheap fares to encourage market growth......hahahahahahahahahahahaha
Time to command for the young Sherm was 15 years.
The world has changed and there are thousands more jobs than ever and waiting for command nowhere near such a misery. Many options. Some entry level, some wonderful, some sideways, some doomed, some a mistake, some much better than imagined, many overseas on shiny machines not on the Australian register.
Those who don't want the NZ jobs should simply not take them. End of story.
As an aside: I had a friend who once knocked back seniority number 12 at Fedex...."looked dodgy" (or some similar yank expression). So be it. Some win, some lose, smart guys learn and move on.