Climate protestors in Australia have apparently caught the shoe-flinging bug, mimicking the antics of the Iraqi journalist who launched a similar attack on the US president this week.

A man dressed up as Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd took to the microphone at a protest outside the countrys parliament yesterday.

Angry at the governments climate change targets and seemingly inspired by George W Bushs assailant, the environmentalists took off their shoes and flung them at the man, who wore an oversized mask bearing Mr Rudds visage.

Yesterday, Mr Bush laughed off the matter of the low-flying shoes that were aimed at him at the press conference in Iraq, having skillfully ducked them at the time.

To show the soles of ones shoes to somebody is considered a highly offensive gesture in the country.

He was in the country to sign a deal to withdraw American troops from Iraq by 2011.

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