Perhaps this was the plan all along, order a truckload of A320s for the Jetstar expansion into Asia, announce Jetstar Hong Kong, knowing full well it could take a long time to finally get approval to operate,if ever, then the aircraft start getting delivered and parked,
once that becomes public knowledge, the Qantas group has a bunch of aeroplanes it needs to do something with, voila! repaint them red and get jetconnect crews to operate them domestically?
A perfect case for 'if you suspect it could be a conspiracy or a stuff up, it's more likely to be the stuff up every time!'