I'm going to come in with a slightly different view, having also flown the sector in F myself.

Mine was part of a very long multi-sector trip with EK, in F throughout, so the CD was included at both ends, and the pro-rata cost of the CHC-SYD leg itself was IIRC lower than the cost quoted by the OP.

Sure, it's good to be 'up in the front', nice & comfy but ..... on balance I would say there are better things to spend the cash on. It really does feel a very short sector once you're up in the air, almost over before you know it. It can seem even routine, and my fellow pax - within what was a surprisingly full cabin - all were rather blasé, as it were, and treating it like a 'commute'. And no lounge/bar or shower facility of course.
In fact I strongly suspect that many of them were QF high status, regular travellers, who had either upgraded with points or in a few cases been Op-upped.

At the end of the day, you pays your money and makes your choice ....!

PS re lounge : as eternaltransit says, the lounge is respectable but busy and really nothing special. Or, to put it another way ....eminently forgettable !!