LOS ANGELES — Before too much time goes by, maybe somebody ought to take note of the smart political stuff coming out of Australia lately.

The new prime minister there is off to some start. Elected last November, but actually in office only since January, Kevin Rudd looks to be something of a super-sharp Tony Blair type — but without all the America-fawning that, in the final analysis, was so fatal to the former British prime minister.

In short order Rudd — almost two decades younger than his rival-party predecessor John Howard, prime minister for 11 years — has started to put his own imprint on Australia's marquee political values.