Wow, did I read that correctly, that Europe - USA is now 50, 80, 100k? If so, that's massively cheaper depending on the itinerary. I sometimes want to go from CGN/FRA to PDX and that would be massively cheaper as that's over 10k roundtrip.
It really does seem to depend a lot on where you want to go - flights to and intra Asia seem very expensive now. This makes sense to me from OZ' perspective though; discourage people from taking other airlines on routes serviced by them, make the program more attractive for award redemptions on routes they wouldn't be an option for anyway.
For my needs, I'd say this is a positive change overall, but someone else might easily come to a contrary conclusion.