This April when I flew QF from SYD to the US (HNL) non-stop, they had a secondary security checkpoint setup at the gate. Everyone had to pass through and was questioned about lighters and aerosol's. I'm guessing you were perhaps on United?
Would be strange that QF is doing secondary security out of SYD but UA isn't.
You're right -- I had forgotten about the secondary for lighters and aerosols at the gate area. It was interesting. We were in business class, got asked if we had lighters, said "no" and were sent to the Gate 56 waiting area. It seemed as if they were doing bag searches on coach passengers or perhaps those who said they had lighters or areosols.
I agree 100% about QF domestic. We flew them from SYD to Darwin through Brisbane. Meals on both legs and they even passed out newspapers in coach. Coming back, I found out something about their fare structure. We had a two-hour lay-over in Brisbane while watching flights leave for SYD every 30 minutes. I asked a customer service rep if we could get on an earlier flight. (We had checked luggage so I already knew the answer.) He told me that the connecting flight you get is related to the fare one pays. If we had paid a higher fare, we would have had only a 30-minute wait. That's not clear on their web site. Since we were on vacation, the additional wait didn't bother me, but it was something to file away for the future. Also, it was completely impossible to book award travel using AA miles -- I even looked a year out just for fun.
GU -- yes, we were on United.