Just had a look and Manila isn't that much different unfortunately though there are some direct flights.
Good point about the number of stopovers, just counted and I'll be fine if I only go to one stopover in that first leg and/or keep the others to under 24 hours.
Mind you the end I might just make it one big trip and go for it!
I was contemplating splitting my trips into two and at Singapore .
Covid screwed my itineraries ( on three occasions) and I have ended up with a non split one at the moment.
Starting from Brisbane has its challenges as lots of QF flights late this year and early next have only placeholders for their services eg BNE-HKG.
As I might have mentioned earlier in this forum , some Minimum Connecting Times for places like HKG and SIN have been extended for obvious reasons and the normal good 2-3 hour connecting time has gone for some airlines ( eg QR and CX ) .
Direct Qatar flights Australia to Doha would normally be suitable to get us to the Middle East but for late this year and early next , only one business class award seat offered per flight. Not great for a couple! (Still I know who would be down the "back"!)
I have been able to confirm that changing flights between London Heathrow and Gatwick ie arr LHR and dep 6 hours later from LGW does count as a "stopover"- always suspected that was the case so now confirmed.
FYI, I have gone to a lot of trouble not originating long haul flights out of the UK. The outrageous UK APD charges ( round aud 320 per person for prem econ , business or first for > 2000 miles) do not apply if you are connecting at the UK airport and staying less than 24 hours. The situation is complicated though and bears a good look before you finalise your itinerary - and exceptions exist - eg Belfast to the USA is exempt from APD.
Sorry to rant on but I have learnt so much from other posters that I like to share what info that I can.
I sense that we are coming out of this mess and I genuinely thank Qantas for not charging award booking change fees at this time.