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Australian police take cheeky Facebook jab at Canadian motorcade, blame Bieber

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's motorcade in Australia.

You’ve got to give it to police in Australia; they’re able to have a laugh even while taking on the intense task of hosting a G20 Summit.

And they’re pretty funny. Even if the jokes are at Canada’s expense.

The Queensland Police Service posted a photograph of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s G20 motorcade to Facebook over the weekend, taking the opportunity to tease Canada about some of our greatest hits.

"They have given the world Celine, Bieber and Nickelback but we’ll still help with the Canadian PM’s #G20 motorcade," reads the post, accompanied by the hashtag #nohardfeelings.

This jab, of course, refers to Celine Dion, Justin Bieber and Chad Kroeger’s band – Canada’s Mount Rushmore of international musical punchlines. The image has been widely shared online, though based on the comments attached to the post, there are more than a few Nickelback fans Down Under.

Harper was in Australia attending the G20 Summit, during which time he made headlines for holding a koala and differing with host Prime Minister Tony Abbot by agreeing to contribute to the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund.

But Harper’s biggest statement came when he “shirt fronted” Russian President Vladimir Putin upon their introduction – saying, “I guess I’ll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine.”

The statement made headlines at home and in Australia.

But that wasn’t enough to earn Harper a reprieve from the Queensland Police Service’s cheeky social media team, which also poked fun at U.S. President Barack Obama, posting an image of his motorcade: made up of a collection of Lego figurines and an Obama doll.

The police service has a bit of a reputation for jokes and puns in their social media messages. The QPS Media Unit’s Twitter account is ripe with fun (when appropriate).

Like the time they posted “breaking moos” about the cow that had gotten loose on a roadway. Or the time they slipped some subtle Star Trek references into a post about speeding.

Not ground-breaking stuff, but humourous enough for an official government Twitter feed. It is pretty rare, which makes Queensland police and, closer to home, York Regional Police, refreshing alternatives to the expectation of stuffy corporate social media messaging.

Still, it is interesting to note Australian authorities making a joke about a Canadian motorcade considering the not-to-distant history.

During the Australia-hosted APEC summit in 2007, a satirical television program called The Chaser staged a fake Canadian motorcade that managed to breach a restricted zone in downtown Sydney.

Eleven members of the production team were charged after the three-car motorcade branded with Canadian flags managed to reach the hotel where then-U.S. president George Bush was staying.

One production team member told the Sydney Morning Herald that they chose to use Canada in their prank for “no particular reason.”

"We just thought they’d be a country who the cops wouldn’t scrutinise too closely, and who feasibly would only have three cars in their motorcade," the man said.

Fair enough. Though Celine, Bieber and Nickelback make for a far better justification.