Not too sure what a "proper Prado" is? We do have a normal Prado though. It suits gravel roads well being a 4wd though. A Commodore is utterly useless for us. I did test drive a V8 SS years ago. The engine went well. Too low to the ground and the tyres would have lasted about a week on gravel
As for biggest seller, is that like Honda having the biggest selling motorbike? The postie bike? Because if it includes fleet vehicles and taxis etc then the figures are skewed.
They are past the use by date. People are after small cars or higher visibility cars. The writing is on the wall. Rear wheel drive is great. But they are a thing of the past. No point building cars that people wanted in 1975. They have to build cars people want in 2020.
As for far sighted governments, look back to the ones who implemented major projects that benefited all Australians such as the Snowy River Scheme, national railway network, telephone lines across the nation, a national wheat silo network. Hese were all implemented with a far smaller population.