Bush confuses Austria with Australia as bin Laden joker crashes party

Addressing an audience in Sydney, the U.S. president referred to Australian troops as Austrians and became confused about which event he is there to attend.

He also got tongue-tied over the name of an Asian terrorist group and came close to coming a cropper when he walked the wrong way off a platform.

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But with his history of muddled speeches and mangled words, everyone - including heads of state from the Pacific region - just accepted his mistakes and grinned.

Mr Bush, in Australia for the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation summit (APEC), began his "slips of the tongue" day at a business forum at the Sydney Opera House when he thanked Australian prime minister John Howard for his hospitality.

"Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit," he said.

As those who know that Australia has never been a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries began to titter, the President quickly corrected himself.

"APEC summit," he said, before making a joke of his gaffe by adding: "He invited me to the OPEC summit next year."

A little later he thanked Mr Howard's soldiers for serving in Iraq, referring to them as Austrian troops.

Horrified White House officials quickly set about correcting official tapes of the speech so the word came out as "Australian", but journalists' tape recorders had trapped the error.

Then, referring to a terrorist group in the region called Jemmiah Islamia, Mr Bush stumbled over the pronounciation of the first word.

Later, he showed a flash of anger when a veteran White House correspondent asked him if there had been any new message in his speech.

As he left the platform, Mr Bush came close to stumbling off when he strode away from the lectern in the wrong direction.

He was redirected to centre stage, where there were steps leading down to the floor of the theatre.

Thousands of protesters gathered in Sydney with some dropping their trousers and "mooning" to make their anger at Mr Bush's presence known, but he did not see them because the Opera House was secured inside a three-mile ring of steel.

One of the president's best-known gaffes was in May when, at a welcoming ceremony for the Queen in Washington, he came perilously close to suggesting that she had toured the U.S. in 1776.

His day got worse when an unrepentant comic crashed through his "ring of steel" security at the summit and said bungling police were lucky it was just a joke.

Police said the prankster could have been shot by snipers yesterday when he was part of a fake motorcade that breached security at the meeting of members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group.

As part of the stunt - organised by satirical TV news show The Chaser's War On Everything - three cars flying the Canadian flag, with one carrying a man dressed as Osama bin Laden, were waved through two police checkpoints.

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Apparently the motorcade stopped voluntarily only a short distance from the US president's hotel.

Only when the Osama character got out of the car did police realise their mistake, rushing to arrest 11 people.

The show's producer, Julian Morrow, denied the joke was irresponsible and said "lucky it was us and not al Qaeda".

The team face up to six months in jail for the stunt, which left police bosses fuming. Security protecting world leaders at the summit cost £65 million.

Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the team was fortunate not to have been targeted by snipers.

"I'm very angry that this stunt happened.

"It was a very dangerous stunt.

"We have snipers deployed around the city.

"They weren't there for show - they mean business, that's what they were there for.

A statement from TV company ABC said the Chaser team members were wearing mock "insecurity" passes, which expressly stated it was a joke.

The latest in a long line of Bushisms

President Bush's gaffe today is the latest in an increasingly long line of 'Bushisms'.

Here, we look back at some old favourites...

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we." - Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004

"I'm the master of low expectations." - Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003

"There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says, fool me once, shame on-shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again." - Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002

"The vast majority of our imports come from outside the country."

"We have a firm commitment to NATO, we are a part of NATO. We have a firm commitment to Europe. We are a part of Europe."

"I don't have the foggiest idea about what I think about international, foreign policy."