CANBERRA, Australia — The chance to overhaul Australian defense policies had loomed large on the nation’s political landscape when Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and his left-wing Labor government ended the 13-year rule of John Howard’s conservatives in December 2007. Rudd’s team was going to rewrite the script: Where Howard enjoyed being feared, Rudd had developed a fondness for being liked. From the treatment of refugees, to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, terrorism in Southeast Asia and relations with China, Rudd was seen as offering a smarter, cleaner approach based on a broad consensus. That — coupled with a new administration […]