I think it's part "Why would we waste money on that," part "They're a lot more advanced than us," and mostly apathy.

I'm at 32S, about the same latitude as Savannah GA. Cape Canaveral is 28N, about the same as Brisbane (28S). That means 2/3 of Australia is closer to the equator than Florida. I think we could build a bloody good space port at that latitude.