We can still represent a B licence holder on issues related to their A lcences that they are also given.
The company wanted these A only people represented by a union that doesn't have a clue what they are talking about in Aviation because they have managed to get them for virtually nothing. By doing this they now also have LAMEs in two seperate Agreements and can deploy them as strikebreakers against each other. The AWU and AMWU have delivered the airline everything the union movement stands against.
Gas Bags as for you explanation about who what and how of A licences, what you say is correct in Europe but you cannot underestimate the control Qantas has over CASA to water down every protection the original system was designed for. In my experience CASA has sided with Qantas on every single issue I have worked on eg. supporting Qantaslink to take action against LAMEs for reporting faulty cockpit doors.