But surely, that is exactly as it should be rehctub?

>>...when one can pay more for a cab to the airport, than to fly Bris to Sydney, thats a result of consumer pressure at work.<<

One of the outcomes could well be that someone sets up a private bus system that undercuts taxis. That has certainly happened here in Sydney - they come from all over the place, and even have their own pickup/setdown areas.

And while this may be true...

>>It is also unsustainable.<<

...the only result will be that prices go back up again. We, the public, will have had a nice ride at low cost for a while, and will have to be philosophical when reality catches up with us.

There's no such thing as a free lunch, as we all know. And by the same token, companies do not stay in business by either selling below cost for extended periods, or by milking excess profits from customers. And we customers have an absolute right to pay as little as we can for the services we need.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say we have a duty to do so.

It is starting to look to me as this Qantas fiasco may just turn out to be the forerunner of things in the pipeline of economics.
I think we're approaching a point where non-brick & mortar type of investment is head-on with business profits. It looks as though the investment bandwagon's windows are slowly opening & letting all the hot air escape & investors realise their smoke screen stint's coming to a halt.
I say Good!

One thing that is becoming abundantly clear from these business fiascoes facing Australia, the car industry, QANTAS, the tin fruit people, etc etc, these are just the highly publicised ones, there are many others, is that the Abbott government has no clear policy or direction as to which way to head on these very sensitive issues/problems. The best they can do is wheel out that old thorny chestnut of, "blame the workers". That is all well and good in the short term world of negative conservative politics, but what is the Abbott Governments long term strategic plan for Australian industry? Such a plan would embrace economic well being, job creation etc etc. Possibly any notion of forward planning might be seen as some kind of dreaded socialism which must be avoided at all cost, due to the total philosophical commitment to the free market by the conservatives. On this very issue, ordinary Australians may come to rue the day they elected this economically incompetent government.

Paul1405,
I think this is way beyond Abbott & Rudd My suspicion is with the shareholder & tax writing off system. The high wages structure is definitely a cause as are the excessive salaries. Private companies can not handle that forever & Qantas has reached that point. It is simply a case of too many snouts in the trough. There are too many loopholes to exploit & when exploitation reaches saturation point the company employees cop it & the EO's go & have a good time.

Indi,

How does Rudd fit into the equation? He's not going to do a Lazarus is he. My concern with the Abbott Government is they seem to be flying by the seat of their pants on so many issues, including this one. The governments on again, off again, approach is rather foreboding. When Australia slips into a worse economic state, at the moment we are in fairly good shape, but the signs are there for deteriorating conditions ahead. Australians will be looking to the government for leadership and sound policy to direct the country through tough economic times. My thoughts are that through a lack of initiative and good government policy, a recession could be needlessly longer and deeper that it otherwise should be.

How does Rudd fit into the equation?
Paul1405,
Are you having me on ? This is the moron who got us into a mess on par with the Goaf. To make a good future you have to have a good basis from the past to build on. Well, Rudd continued this ALP tradition of denying us a good future.
How can you say the present outfit is lacking initiative & leadership after a few months of juggling the ALP mess ? We're still copping the crap from the Goaf years & now you expect the added Rudd mess to be overcome in just a few months ? Get some realism into you for crying out loud.