The increases came into effect on the 1st of January 2004 - you should have got a booklet sent out to you outlining all the changes back in July 2003. Sounds like one didn't quite make it your way unfortunately.

As for international upgrades, they're taken from the same U class that Business Class Frequent Flyer redemptions are made in. Unlike the Business Class redemptions though, you can waitlist for an upgrade, and *most* times they'll be processed 2-3 days before the flight if there's seats available (but the waitlist is ordered by status first, then date of waitlisting is how I understand it - so better hope there's not too many Platinums and Golds ahead of you).

You might want to check out the Qantas board a bit further down for more information on all these sorts of topics, plenty of friendly people there happy to help!