If by"pillaging" you mean they fly to somewhere else besides London or LA yes you are correct. I can't see why the Australian traveling public should be limited in travel options just because QF management don't like the idea of running a truly international airline.
Don, there are two reasons why QF is contracting in both destinations and pax numbers:
1. As you said, an incompetent management who have no idea about how to run a premium international airline &
2. Capacity dumping by Middle Eastern carriers who have been unfettered by any government (except Canada). They have been offering fares for many years that are so low that even efficiently run airline can't compete with. Once they have run most of the competitors out of business, the airfares will rise significantly and they will return massive profits. Very similar to what Coles & Woolies are doing to the supermarket business. I believe that Australia should be following the Canadian government's lead in dealing with ME carriers.