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If you look past the triathlete’s body and the Down-Under accent, the man who landed in Ottawa Sunday is the closest thing Stephen Harper has to a political twin brother.
Tony Abbott, Australia’s Prime Minister, is a leader once deemed too conservative to win power, a monarchist in a new-world nation, an opponent of carbon taxes, an advocate of fiscal restraint, and an admirer of Mr. Harper.
He and Mr. Harper have linked up in a cross-hemisphere conservative alliance that has their two countries echoing each other on everything from trade talks to climate change to East Jerusalem.
The rookie …
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