Having flown Qantas, I certainly would not put myself out to route via LHR. Having flown MAN-SYD quiet a few times, I always used to use Cathay MAN-HKG-SYD. Ah, those were the days.
These days, my journeys stop at HKG, I certainly won't go via LHR (the shuttles get cancelled by BA as soon as there is any wiff of trouble anywhere, so not reliable enough for me, that's my choice).
So these days, I'm with Swiss or Luftie, thus avoiding the stupid O'Clock plane change in the Gulf. Fair play to both these carriers, often over looked in the clamour for big shiny new big jets, but with multiple frequencies via ZRH, FRA, MUC, DUS HAM they've done a great job for MAN.