Sunfish,
I don't move in your circles so I won't begin to argue most of your points, however, the statement about safety is a little naieve in my opinion. It would be a magical world if all airlines were similarly safe, just as it would if all CEO's were similarly competent or all companies were similarly profitable. I have flown for two flag carriers, an LCC, an Asian domestic airline, several piston charter operators, and now a private outfit and in my opinion safety varies greatly from operator to operator depending primarily on the quality and quantity of training provided . Local culture plays a big role in the quality of training and Australians are lucky in that their culture of calling it like it is pushes them toward above average safety cultures when it comes to airline ops.
The gap is closing slowly but if you randomly audited 10 airlines that fly in and out of Australia I would be surprised if QF didn't come out of the wash in the top two or three.
To put it another way,and to quote someone I think is often worth listening to,
" you presume far too much, that is not a good idea" .