As part of the continuing protests in Australia opposing their government’s weak climate change policies, activists in the Adelaide, the South Australia capital, tossed shoes at a protester dressed as Labor Party Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

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This comes two days after an Iraqi journalist threw both his shoes at President Bush during a press conference in Baghdad. The waving of dirty soles or tossing of shoes is considered a strong insult in many cultures but up until now it had not been seen in Australia.

While Australia plans a decrease in carbon emissions by only 5 percent by 2020, the European Union plans a 20 percent decrease and Barack Obama has promised a 17 percent decrease in the United States. Activists protested all weekend in Australia, including one action where protesters surrounded government buildings with sandbags, to represent the risk of rising sea levels from global warming.

Photo Credit: elcopilot on Flickr under Creative Commons license.