I'm not sure which of these (perhaps all?...) are places you want to go (=stop) versus connecting points on the way to somewhere else. However, if you want to maximize point/SC earning, there may be ways to re-work the places/sequence depending on where you want to get to and in which sequence.
I am looking to stop at all the US places and you do provide a good point regarding SCs. I'll amend my itinerary to fly LHR-LAX and work my way to JFK. The only places where I don't care all that much about are CBR, MEL and BNE. As for Asia, I would definitely like to go to at least HKG and BKK. MAD is also expendable.
Edit to Add: Is it better to book the first leg with BA or with AA? Which is easier to deal with? Putting those changes into Oneworld's planner, booking the first leg with AA saves 300GBP. But if they are hard to deal with, is it worth it?