Interesting. Things must have changed. The airline I worked for in oz sent A320's to eastern Canada for C checks because it was quicker and cheaper than in oz.
The Canadians have always been good with the 320's. I think they do them in Halifax.
The latest dramas have been with 738's. The blokes in Melb HM are the experts in this field. They have been working on nothing except 73's since the first c check in 89. I reckon they could turn one out blindfolded. They know where the problems are and how to fix them. That's what you get when you have long term loyal employees who love their jobs (they aren't in love with their managers). If the love of their jobs is overriden by the mistreatment by management, the blokes will leave. I suspect that this is one of the goals of Australian managers, it makes it very easy for them to claim that they have no choice other than send the work overseas.
All this being said, Qantas aren't the worst employer here. There are good managers and there are absolute
pr**ks. Four years ago 20% of Qantas maintenance was sent offshore. It is now down to around 5% so that is the good news story here. It will jump up when the 380's go to Lufty but long term, I am confident that we can maintain the industry here with a little argy bargy and an occasional run in the press.