You could try Air Asia. They have started a new route to Sydney. I'd say a stopover somewhere between to get to Sydney. It's not on their website, but I did hear about it on the radio.
Yes, true but they have those bloody awful seats ; everyone knows them and hates them.
I've stopped flying CX for exactly that reason. They've been talking about changing the seat since 2010, and now it looks like the replacement schedule has been extended through to 2013 or 2014.