Australia simply wouldn't go for it given the government of the day. There was no clear need to expand the armoured force nor replace the Leopards with anything else. As previously indicated, the Leopards were more than a match for the expected opposition of Indonesia.
Also, and this comes virtually from the horses mouth (several VERY senior NCOs I served and drank with for a few years), Australia at the time really only had tanks due to tradition. In the 80's and 90's we just didn't have any pressing need for them (in fact according to some reports I heard inside the system, only 4 tanks were actually active at any one time - can't say how accurate that was though).
As an infantryman I will say though that armour is very necessary, but you don't need a 10 pound hammer to squash a bug when a rolled up newspaper will do the job.
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If it moves, shoot it, if not push it, if it still doesn't move, use explosives.
Nothing happens in isolation - it's called "the butterfly effect"
Mors ante pudorem
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