Rmball, not sure I ever got to meet you, but I'm sorry to see you leave. You're the second that I know of.
There doesn't seem to be much of a pattern to the permit rejections (but did we expect there to be?). From my knowledge, pretty much every pilot has been rejected this year. Some have been successful on appeal, including some low hour guys (300-400 hr), many others are still waiting for the appeal decision to be made, quite a few of them have 500+ hours. And then there's the two that I know of who have been turned away a second/ final time.
The case I'm more familiar with, the letter is said to have come from the minister himself and clearly specifies that the decision cannot be appealed- but the company is trying.
There are two rumours I've heard in relation to the work permit issues;
First, that there is a disgruntled local pilot looking for work who has contacted the labour dept. Word on the street is that two companies here have already employed him, but then let him go for not meeting the standard even after extensive training.
Second rumour is that the Bush Pilots show caused a bit of a stir in immigration for not featuring any local pilots. It also highlighted a few not-so-legal labour/ immigration things happening with the pilots.
As for CAPSLOCK, anything is possible. 1000 hours should work in your favour, but no one knows what the government departments will think or do.
But there's always hope... I got a five year work permit issued, first try, just 21 days after submitting the paperwork.