I'll bite.
I'm a bit perplexed to see that the Phase 1 testing fee has increased from $150 to $200 since testing conducted in December. Why the noticeable increase in such a short time? I know that many people had to travel from interstate and ended up paying hundreds in flights and accomodation just to attend to testing. How many quality applicants will be deterred simply by the sheer cost ($140k for training + accomodation + living expenses) associated with this cadetship?
I went through the testing for a cadetship with a different airline a number of years ago and got through to the final round. The airline paid for flights and accommodation to a major city so candidates could be further tested.
Mate this isn't just Jetstar but the Qantas group as a whole. QantasLink used to charge $180 for their aptitude test just for direct entry jobs on their props, and recent candidates going for direct entry roles with QF mainline had to arrive at the interview with the Qantas pre-employment medical already completed (a $500+ exercise just for the chance to interview). And no flights to the interview were not included..
It's all just a culling exercise to see how badly you want the gig. I'm not saying it's right but for every bloke that says "no I won't pay it", there will be 20 who fork out the cash.