I too am confused.

If, as has already been mentioned, exit rows can't be assigned today over the phone because of 'safety reasons', how will this ever work?

Seriously, I too see this as a huge killer in terms of my loyalty to Qantas. As a WP I rank the benefits as follows:

• access to exit rows (almost joint equal with...) instant phone answering
• double points
• a priority queue at check-in
• F lounge access
• anytime lounge access

But lose the exit rows and nothing else up there (except maybe the instant phone answering) would be enough to make me fly Qantas rather than another airline.