Image: Paul Kane, Getty Images
Our leaders have a strange habit of making us seem ridiculous on the world stage. Some would think we can't afford a regular presidential gift. Or that we simply don't know what is acceptable. Here are the absolute worst.
1. A pair of RM Williams boots
Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott might have outdone all past leaders with his gift to his new bestie, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. He gave his new friend a pair of boots. But not any boots, RM Williams boots. Our country's favourite boot for the working man. The men topped the gift-giving session off with a synchronised pose on the tyre of a Komatsu 930E hauling truck. Because 'Straya.
2. A 2GB iPod Shuffle
Image: Jim Watson, AFP, Getty Images
Obama must have jumped with glee. Just what he had been wishing for. A brand new iPod filled with all the Australian songs he could ever want. If he didn't know the words to Beds are Burning by Midnight Oil, he does now.
If this didn't satisfy his taste for Australia, the former Prime Minister Julia Gillard also handed over an AFL football and a jersey. We are sure he is still kicking it around the Oval Office.
3. A crocodile attack insurance policy
Image: Justin Sanson, Newspix, Getty Images)
Obama has been a lucky man. Not just due to his haul of gifts, but for the fact he didn't get attacked by a crocodile. Then again, if he did, he was covered. In 2011, Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson presented Obama with a $50,000 policy in case he fell in a croc-infested river and became dinner.
"Unique" is what the ever-polite Obama called the gift.
4. A surfboard that looks like Air Force One
What president doesn't want a replica of his private jet in the form of a surfboard? Prime Minister Tony Abbott gifted Obama a longboard when he visited the White House earlier this year. We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Obama prefers body surfing.
5. A saddle
In 1981, former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser presented then US President Ronald Regan with a rosewood-coloured stockman's saddle from hides tanned and dressed in Queensland. At least this one was well researched - Regan quite fancied a horseback ride.
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