OMG, I've just rung Centrelink, it was a wonderful career while it lasted.
Oh, hold on. There's actually a lot of passengers that don't want to travel on days such as New Years Eve & Christmas Day.
Contrary to marketing, that is all about the journey. On days such as these, it's more about when you'll get to your destination.
Even my new friends at Centrelink know there's still a lot of Qantas Capacity between Australia & the USA on New Years Eve.
QF107 SYD-LAX
QF93 MEL-LAX
QF15 BNE-LAX
QF3/AA162 SYD-HNL-LAX
XPT, should the QF107 suddenly become oversold. You may want to travel SYD-LAX via BNE, MEL or HNL there's still plenty of seats.