Australia's Prime Minister has been mocked, once again, for his stance over climate change.
More than 400 protesters stuck their heads in the sand on Australia's Bondi Beach on Thursday, mocking the government's reluctance to put the issue on the agenda of a G20 summit this weekend.
Abbott, who once famously said that climate change is "crap," has been accused in the past of removing climate policies that protected the environment to allow the rich to become richer.
His perceived failure to address climate change is all the more galling in the wake of an agreement between the United States and China on Wednesday to limit their carbon emissions, protesters said this week.
"Obama's on board, Xi Jinping's on board, everyone's on board except one man," activist Pat Norman, 28, bellowed into a megaphone on the Sydney beach, Reuters reported.
"Tony Abbott!" the protesters shouted back.
Crowds with babies, school children and working people in business suits dug holes on the beach and stuck their heads in them.
The ostrich is said to stick its head in the sand in futile bid to avoid danger. Ornithologists say the African bird does no such thing but that didn't spoil the cheeky protest.
"Wiggle ya bums if you feel like it," Norman shouted over the megaphone.
A few athletic types did handstands with their heads in the sand.
Abbott recently stated that coal was "good for humanity." Australia repealed a tax on greenhouse gas emissions in July, the only country to reverse action on climate change.
Justin Field, 36, a former army intelligence officer who is running for a seat in state parliament for the Green Party, said Australia had to act.
"To be so far behind the rest of the developed world embarrasses progressive Australia," he said.
Australia became the first country in the world to abolish a price on carbon in July, taking a global step backwards over climate policy.
Abbott was branded an "environmental vandal" after freeing the nation's worst greenhouse gas polluters from a much-maligned carbon tax and opposition parties said the vote had made Australia the "laughing stock of the world."
Here, we researched some of the Aussie prime minister's most memorable quotes produced over the years:
- “Abortion is the easy way out. It’s hardly surprising that people should choose the most convenient exit from awkward situations.” March 17th, 2004
- “While I think men and women are equal, they are also different and I think it's inevitable and I don't think it's a bad thing at all that we always have, say, more women doing things like physiotherapy and an enormous number of women simply doing housework.” 2010
- “The problem with the Australian practice of abortion is that an objectively grave matter has been reduced to a question of the mother’s convenience.” March 17th 2004
- “We just can’t stop people from being homeless if that’s their choice.” February 11th, 2010
- “Jesus knew that there was a place for everything and it’s not necessarily everyone’s place to come to Australia.” April 5th, 2010
- “Why isn’t the fact that 100,000 women choose to end their pregnancies regarded as a national tragedy approaching the scale, say, of Aboriginal life expectancy being 20 years less than that of the general community?” March 17th, 2004
- “What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing is that if they get it done commercially it’s going to go up in price and their own power bills when they switch the iron on are going to go up.” February 8th, 2010
- “The climate change argument is absolute crap, however the politics are tough for us because 80 per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger.” February 2nd, 2010
- “I won't be rushing out to get my daughters vaccinated [for cervical cancer], maybe that's because I'm a cruel, callow, callous, heartless bastard but, look, I won't be.” November 9th, 2006
- “I would say to my daughters if they were to ask me this question... [their virginity] is the greatest gift that you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it to someone lightly, that's what I would say.” January 27th “The problem with the Australian practice of abortion is that an objectively grave matter has been reduced to a question of the mother’s convenience.” 2010
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Sources: tonyabbott.com, Herald Sun News, The Sydney Morning Herald, theaustralian.com, abc.net