You have to keep in mind that to get to Europe, any Australasian has to stop over at least once. Dubai is the most convenient; so really this route is Australasia to Europe.
Well, yes. Dubai is the Emirates hub. Europe-Australasia is one reason Dubai makes sense as a hub location. In fact one of the (few) redeeming features of travelling to Europe from Australasia is the large number of countries that are about half way, meaning a lot of airline/stopover options.