Hewlett, there is an element of truth in that statement:
"The jumbo's engines have stronger thrust than other aircraft because it is used to fly one of the longest routes in the world between Australia and Dallas, Texas."
The six B747-400ER's (used on the DFW route) flown by Qantas have GE CF6 donks which put out approx 11,000 lbs thrust more that the RR donks on the standard B744's. The idle thrust setting is significantly higher on these GE's and causes pilots to use frequent brake applications to control the taxy speed.
I'd be interested if one of our engineers can explain why the GE idle setting needs to be so high.