I think someone with a less blinkered view might take the turning point a bit further back than that, ned, to the 24th of August 1989, when the union that had won for Australian professional pilots the conditions they enjoyed effectively ceased to exist. (Although it took a while for many of us to recognise that.)
Some might argue that it continued to exist until enough of its members, along with 'blow-ins', mostly (but not only) from abroard, undermined its position by voting with their feet and accepting the individual contracts.
However, I accept that it's useless attempting to debate the issue. Even after 20+ years, it's still too close to the bone for those who stayed out, wghile those who learned all about the duspute from those who returned have a very different view of it.