On the one hand, there is no future in this:
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We should also be attacking fleet companies, buisnesses and even individuals who purchase imported vehicles
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We tried it for long enough, with heavy import tariffs (taxes on foreign importers). Didn't do much good. People still wanted - and bought - the Japanese imports. Subsidies are at least better. With a subsidy, at least you know what the exact cost is to the taxpayer. With a tariff, you don't.
On the other hand, I don't know of a successful industrial country that does not provide massive support of one kind or another to its favoured industry. The is done through a web of direct subsidies, research incentives, tax breaks and other support for certain manufacturing. Germany does it with cars (ever wondered why Ford has factories there?). Japan with cars and cameras. The US does it with the IT industry, by turning a blind eye to tax avoidance through the use of foreign entitities. China does it by keeping its currency lower than it would otherwise be - some have called it currency manipulation.
So you're welcome to complain about jobs "subsidised to the tune of $40,000 per worker". But don't imagine that other countries are industrial virgins in this regard either. Not by a long shot.
Now you never hear about this from the toothless, Homer Simpson-comb-over economic experts on TV. They just want to harp on about how inefficient it is. In economic terms, it may be inefficient.
But what sort of country do you want to live in? One with a few mining jobs? What does everyone else do? Become hairdressers and accountants? Do you see your sons' and daughters' futures in being golf-caddies, croupiers and bar-girls for rich foreign tourists?
An amazing thing about Australia is that these days there is an assumption that
everything - yes,
everything - must be economically efficient. Nobody is arguing that we must have some highly efficient export industries. But does
everything, every little thing have to be jammed into the efficiency perspective?
Here's a little example. There is now a move among some Melbourne councils to close down open-air swimming pools. Why? They are not making a profit. My question is: did anyone ever expect them to be? A great Australian tradition under threat from the pale and the pointy-headed.
If those views were influential in Europe, the French would tear down the Eiffel Tour to replace it with a concrete apartment block. The Italians would kick the Pope out of the Vatican to make St. Peter's into a series of bars and restaurants.
Having said all that, it is another matter when governments deliberately choose not to buy Australian-made, as goes on all the time. There will be times when there are sound reasons to not to buy local vehicles (e.g. for some purposes in the police and armed forces). But just moving public servants around town is not one of them.