Unfortunately the unions played games by announcing work stoppages and then calling them off at the last minute, too late damage done but no come back on them as they didn't actually go on strike.
International and domestic are as different as chalk and cheese, domestic compete only with Virgin on the same playing field, ie depreciation rates on aircraft, work place health and safety, award rates of pay, union membership etc. They have done a reasonable job and retain their position as market leader.
Internationally it's a totally different ball game. Back in 1976 QF had a 46% share, 1996 it was 39%, ten years ago 35% and today less than 20%. Asian and Middle Eastern competators play by different rules. The one area QF had a big advantage in was it's reputation for quality and safety, this has been trashed by poor business decisions resulting in a fleet of geriatric B744s flying around with a known engine problem.
There is no longer any reason to pay the premium Qantas need to charge over other airlines due to their higher cost base. Passengers voted with their feet and who can blame them with Singapore/Emirates offering nice new aircraft, better service, easy connections through their hubs and lower fares.
If Qantas international isn't going to end up with an unsustainable single figure percentage of the market things have to radically change. Costs need to come down and product needs to improve. Would sensible decisions taken years ago have avoided this ? Absolutely, B777s properley maintained with a good onboard experience, costs trimmed where necessary and the business could have competed and remained profitable.
Any instrument rated pilot knows the advantage of making a small correction early on and keeping the needles centred, Qantas have just about gone out of tolerance and need a major correction or a missed approach is imminant.