They have a point in the first sentence - i.e. it's true that QF was struggling initially and AJ asked for govt assistance. However, there was more to it than that - at the time there were restrictions on QF's ability to accept investment from outside of Aus (in contrast to VA which is largely owned by other airlines, which in turn are largely owned by foreign governments). AJ's point was that you can't have it both ways - either QF is a quasi "national" airline subject to restrictions on foreign investment (in which case the govt has an obligation to support it), or they are not, in which case they should be free to accept investment from wherever they see fit, just like VA. Ultimately, the govt refused any help, and I think that is part of the reason why he would object to the govt now helping VA.
The second sentence in this excerpt is just bizarre: "net profits of only $1.75 billion – a factoid easy to forget when you see his remuneration ($92 million and counting)". I would imagine most Boards would happily pay a CEO $100 million if it meant turning the company around in the manner that AJ has done at QF. Also, his "remuneration" is largely based on the growth of the QF share price during his tenure, this isn't cash paid out by the company. His actual salary and bonuses are just a fraction of that $92 million.