Sunfish,
You may well be right.
But look at shipping - despite one of the largest coast lines in the world, become a major player in heavy global trade etc, there are almost no Australian registered ships... Why??
Unless Qantas Intl (and indeed in the longterm Jetstar Aust Intl) can compete on a cost base internationally, its natural future is to shrink back to a domestic only airline, protected by the Australian AOC -- that protection doesn't exist on any international operations (and we have already given away the Canadian strategy)