From the Australian article already in this thread
"QANTAS has vowed to tackle workplace change as part of its plea for emergency government help amid a political fight over whether union demands are putting companies at risk.
As Joe Hockey attacks “militant” union leaders, Qantas is making industrial reform a key part of its case for a standby debt facility to cut its borrowing costs."
A few dots are lining up here:
1. Lots of anti-union rhetoric lately (see Hockey's lies about Toyota telling him they were leaving due to unions etc.)
2. They keep trotting out the story that Qantas is imperiled because of the QSA (how the Sale Act affects it's economic performance is beyond me- unless you are planning to sell the WHOLE THING to a hedge fund....)
3. The govt is clearly looking for Son of Workchoices (under an alias)
It REALLY looks like the recent meetings were discussing the tie-up of unrelated items to be spun together to commence an IR $hit-fight... a govt bailout giving them the moral authority to break agreements etc.