So here in lies a point of contention. Australia is already more then adequately served by foreign airlines at the moment. So much so that they're all complaining about yield pressures lowering profits in the Australian market.
That being the case, in what interest would it be to the government of today to allow more capacity dumping which will in turn further erode the ability of an Australian owned and Australian Employer's ability to make profits, pay tax, support the country ? We already have cheaper then taxi fare flights available. We already have extreme lcc's operating internationally. It's not going to get any cheaper in relative terms.
Cathay lobbied their government extremely well to make it all but impossible to set up shop in Hong Kong unless you're a local which is fair enough. Why shouldn't Qantas lobby the Australian government to limit the amount of capacity dumping until they get something they want ? At the same time why would CX get upset about it ? International air transport rights are an economic tool that should be mutually beneficial to everyone, there's not much point benefiting foreigners exclusively at the expense of locals. The Hong Kong/Chinese government understands this point, CX can't have their cake and eat it too.