Galdian has it right, except for one point! The past pay was of the gravy train days. Have a look at the "Professional Engineers pay" thread. An engineer (not lame) with similar years experience will get around 180-220k if it's mining related, low 100s elsewhere.
If I was flying in Australia my base would have to be 160K pa as an F/O to have kept up with previous income from 2001/2, and a captain around 220K! Not likely anymore, except maybe QF!!
As to going OS, they are doing their best to drag the pay down there as well. The best that can be hoped for is to delay the decay!
You can argue as much as you like about perceived worth, but I'm sorry, if you compare against other professions and you're earning 180K+ pa, you should be pretty bloody happy(as a captain).