For those of you who have been around a while, you would recall that the CX trans Atlantic service (freighter) was contingent on a UK carrier being given 5th freedom
Freedoms of the air - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia to Australia.
If VS gives up the traffic rights from HKG to Oz, it falls to another UK carrier to pick them up. There is also a "use it or lose it" rule to consider - it takes a year of "neglect" before it's lost by default.
If it's up for grabs at all, my bet is on BA taking it - with the dugong.