Bush was about 15 minutes late starting his speech, as aides hustled audience members down from the balcony to fill the many empty seats below. He started his remarks with a gaffe. In Sydney to attend the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, a 21-nation group of Pacific Rim countries whose economies account for nearly half of all global trade, Bush first referred to the group as OPEC, the cartel of major oil producers. The audience remained quiet through his speech.
UPDATE: Bush's witty introduction was --
PRESIDENT BUSH: Good morning -- or should I say g'day. (Laughter.) Mr. Prime Minister, thank you for your introduction. Thank you for being such a fine host for the OPEC summit. I appreciate -- APEC summit. (Laughter.)
Bet they've never heard the g'day thing before.
The official White House pictures give no sense of the apparently sparse crowd, although John Howard's panicked summoning of the entourage perhaps reveals the problem.
FINAL UPDATE: scout prime has more, including Bush's confusion of Australia and Austria.
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