I'm not one to defend alan joyce and co so don't think that.
But to compare with EK, they can load passengers up from all corners of the globe, from their hub position in the world, and then ship the ones who want to, off to Paris for example is a bit unfair and part of the reason the middle eastern carriers even exist in their current size and form today.
Qantas can take pax from Australia and ship them to either Singapore to codeshare with someone else or LHR. That's it west of Australia. That's not alan joyces fault, nor geoff dixons. It's a disadvantage and it needs to be recognised as no ones fault but geography.
Hence the reason there is the big push to base out of Singapore in the future with the 787's. Just you wait, they will all be based out of SIN, Jetstar will morph into a full service carrier with a LCC cost base and will be able to pick up passengers from all corners of Asia and ship them off the European destinations. Just like Emirates.
The question is, does Qantas tie up with someone that lets them share a hub or do they go it alone with Jetstar/RedQ/whatever in a 2nd country. At the moment I reckon they're hedging bets. That's where the 787-9s will go or at least the majority.