I have been waiting for someone to suggest that Qantas go lease a couple of A340-500s for this route!
Qantas has plenty of A330 drivers who would need only a couple of SIM rides to convert. The 340-500 would make it with plenty to spare.
And it's a much nicer aircraft to sit in for 17 hours than a 747...
And I do say, the time that I've flown on a 340 (not sure which variant, a 600 maybe? It was Cathay) it was a much nicer plane to fly on than the 777-300 (Emirates) that people keep saying that Qantas should have! The 777 is a damn noisy bugger while the 340 was nice and quiet. Though I do find Boeing's to be noisy in general when compared to the competing Airbus.