The common misconception in the pilot group is that higher tech crew pay results in a safer airline. This is completely false. Delta airlines, one of the highest paying (if not the highest) airlines in the US should know this - they were almost shut down by the FAA for a string of safety related accidents and incidents back in the late eighties.
Pay and conditions in the oz airline scene have been eroded for years - the collapse of AN will do nothing but accelerate this. The only spike on the pay graph now is QF.