Hempy,
A million bucks for an AOC, just to start, can you imagine anyone with any business sense considering that?
Then the $$$ really starts, a hundred grand just to get an aircraft on an AOC, that price climbs proportional to the size and complexity of the aircraft,
Could you imagine any transport business outside aviation who would pay a hundred grand before they could use a particular truck?
It currently costs my company over twenty grand just to give a pilot a job on a simple piston twin, that doubles or triples if your looking turbine or jet.
Aviation in Australia is finished mate, tell your friend to save their money or if they are really determined take their money to New Zealand.