If Qantas wanted to be strategic with their hiring all they need to do is take a bunch off their competitors turboprop fleet
I always wondered why the big players never did that.
In the past Virgin have recruited from the Link but only in dribs and drabs, taking pilots from elsewhere at the same time, if they had wanted to be brutal in their fight against the competition they could have taken a dozen or so pilots directly from one base and fleet in QLink and done serious damage.
Just imagine if Qantas took 6+ Captains from one fleet and one base in any regional airline and you would see cancellations and panic for months.
Maybe they try to be nice in the hopes that it doesn't then happen to them?