I can not believe that there can ever, ever be a shortage of First Officers in Oz. Given that your average turbo-prop and jet are pretty simple things to learn to fly, not cheap but simple, I can not see why outsiders have to be brought in. After all the rest of the world (ex. USA) trains up 200 hour sprogs. I could see a case for temporary captains for a new start-up or a company that is expanding faster than the local system can provide them, but even then this should only be for a few years. I feel for the guys who see these positions going elsewhere.
PM