https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_cringe
Pertinent historical context?
The OP started this thread with:
whats the attraction to the use of old imperial measurement in the US?
here in Australia everything is Metric, like most of the world.
why is the US system of measurement the odd one out?
And you seem to deadset upon turning it into an "Australia Bashing" thread.
Maybe a more interesting question is what made Australia so uniquely willing among the english-speaking world to so thoroughly sever its continuity of perception, history, and culture in order to forge ahead in a brave new world that may include things like "kilometerage." (Mileage; not officially a word, yet, per Merriam. Apparently it sounds cooler in French, where it is legit. "Kilometrage.")
"Mileage"is defined in various online dictionaries as:-
(1) The distance you have travelled, measured in miles
(2)The number of miles a vehicle can tavel on one gallon of fuel.
(3) The mileage in a particular course of action is its usefulness in getting you want you want.
(1) Is covered in its definition, by the perfectly good word "travelled", & was already rare in 1974.
(2)Is the same thing as "fuel economy", which had pretty much replaced it by 1974.
( "Mileage" is a Brit/US thing!)
(3)Is a figure of speech of much the same order as "In for a penny, in for a Pound", or "Give 'em an inch & they'll take a mile".
Nobody has ever been prosecuted (or persecuted) for using Imperial measures in everyday speech, as they come under the same category as quite redundant measures like "leagues".(or to a lesser extent, fathoms)
Do Shakespearean actors in the USA declaim whilst performing in "The Tempest":-
"Full thirty feet thy Father lies, his bones are coral made!"?
Of course not, so why do you assume Australians would be stupid enough to ban all reference to non-Metric measures?
You have somehow assumed, because we changed to Metric that we live in some sort of Totalitarian State where the Imperial measures have become "non-words".
If I wanted to, & was persuasive enough, I could organise a group of people to march down the road yelling " Inch!, Inch!, Inch!, Foot!,Foot!, Foot!, Yard!, Yard!, Yard!, Mile!, Mile!, Mile!, Furlong! Rod! Pole!, Perch!, & as long as we were well behaved, didn't hinder traffic, or get into unseemly physical confrontations with the public or police, we could go home & sleep soundly in our beds, knowing the Metrication Death squads are not coming for us!
As for "kilometrage", I had no idea it is a real thing, as I have never heard it used, either by Australians or others, but there you go, it is real:-
https://forum.wordreference.com/threads/mileage-kilometrage.2580919/
We've got
1. Australian sports viewers/commentators do not have much use for communicating distances.
I might have to amend my comments on this, as around the goals in AFL, is a semicircle 50m in diameter.
Once you have passed that line, you are in your "forward 50".
Some players can kick goals from "outside" the 50 metre line, but it isn't common.
A commentator may point out that he/she is outside the "50 metre line", or if they are inside, they are "about 40m or maybe about 10metres " or whatever away from goal.
"About" is pretty much the degree of accuracy required in commentary.
2. Trade partners mostly China and metric EU
Plus the USA, Thailand, South Korea, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia & others.
3. "Cultural cringe" causing an under-valuation/appreciation of its own culture and history.
There always have been "Artificial Poms", " Artificial Yanks", " Eurosnobs", etc.
Unfortunately, they have an influence upon the Media, out of all proportion to their actual numbers.
Most Australians have sufficient confidence in their identity for it not to be shaken by the loss of Inches, Feet, Yards, Miles, etc, which if anything are a reminder of being dominated by the British Empire.
4. Timing of decimal currency change.
Coincidence.
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