If everyone were instantly replaceable perhaps it wouldn't be strictly legal, but they are not. In Sydney, the numbers and licences have all gone into the same bucket so it seems.
My advice, if you want to stay in this industry do your own training make yourself employable. It's your licence at the end of the day, not Qantas's. Otherwise look elsewhere. Pair that with the face that the industry has been totally decimated perhaps by Qantas, perhaps by the AUD, perhaps by unfavourable business environment compared to outsourcing over the last 10 years whatever it is, the 'good old days' are gone and they're not coming back.
Just take a look at the ghost town Sydney now is compared to 10 years ago when there was 707s, 767s, 747s, base maintenance, EOC, engine line, apu line, 95% foreign operators contracted to SIO. A mere shadow of that exists today, just reminders everywhere. AVV gone, MEL heavy gone, CFM56 engine line gone.
Besides, this is AJ's last throw of the dice with regards to Qantas. What's to say the year after he won't burn through another $700+million, it won't be long before the receivers are called in. But at least we have corporate mouthpiece propaganda 'Q-Tube' to tell us everything is good, everything is great, wherever we go.