I think it boils down to the culture here in aus. In europe, they have been exploiting the advantages of the hatch for decades, especially with diesel technology. Although it's changing now in aus, the majority of people have always gone for big "family" cars with real-man engines.
It's also got a lot to do with what you grow up with. We've always had small cars in our garage, from the 68' beetle to golf gti pirelli... Basically people that pay out on hatches (the good hatches anyway...) don't know what they're missing out on.
My favorite ad on at the moment is the ad for the new camry... At the end it says "be your own man" as he shifts down in his auto fwd v6 sedan... Go figure
Ps. One of My favorite thing about hatches???... Your whole car is a boot!!!