well... there are two other ways to do this routing, both are equally painful.

I sent my girlfriend EAST to Sydney (you can go via Amsterdam or Newark/Dubai to KL) and this way you can actually avoid doing overnights in Kuala Lumpur for both directions.

You can also fly from SEA to Tokyo, and then MH from Tokyo to KL and onward to Sydney. This latter routing would require the overnighters.

I have no idea why Northwest doesn't fly direct to Sydney from HNL or LAX. They supposedly made lots of money per plane (both in cargo and in PAX). Certainly with the stranglehold QF, UA and NZ have on this market, it's pretty tough to find a fare for under $1000. "Low Yields" a complaint? C'mon, they only set aside a maximum of 10% of the seats for WorldPerks reservations. If NWA flew to this destination again, they would HAVE to make money. Why they don't, I have no clue.