The ruckus created by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard wearing a low cut top and showing cleavage has not died down. Instead, it started a trend in social networking, causing Facebook to be bombarded by photos mostly of Aussie woman showing the buxom side of their upper bodies.

The cleavage baring photos was the response of a group called Destroy the Joint page in response to columnist Grace Collier's criticism of Ms Gillard showing some cleavage while in Parliament.

Hours after Ms Collier's infamous words, women from different parts of Australia showed their support for the PM in response to a challenge from blogger Jennifer Wilson. The result is a collection of cleavage images that they plan to send to Ms Collier to send her the message "that she is an idiot."

Jenna Price, spokeswoman of the group and a media professor at the University of Technology in Sydney, said, "Here's news for Grace: women have breasts."

Ms Price added, "It seems to me that if we are to stamp out this irrational horror of the female breast ... we have little choice but to use immersion therapy in which we expose Ms Collier and fellow sufferers to images of that which they so fear."

The developing cleavage war is one of the issues that the PM is hurdling in the run up to the Sept 14 election as male opponents from her own Labor party and the Coalition plan her defeat.

Last week, a radio DJ bluntly asked if her live-in partner, Tim Mathieson is gay because he is a hairdresser. In March, a chef named a quail dish after Ms Gillard because the bird has small breasts and large thighs.

However, another battle that the PM has to win is the continued support of union leaders whom Workplace Relations Minister Bill Shorten has been meeting to convince them not to end their backing of the PM.

Mr Shorten and officials from Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association - the largest union in Australia - are in crisis talks over the ALP leadership crisis. The SDA and the Australian Workers' Union are the main union support based of Ms Gillard outside Parliament.

Reports said that Mr Shorten is trying to find the position of the two unions since his support for the ALP leader is hinged on whom the unions will back up. However, the AWU said last week it will not push Labor member how to vote in the event of a leadership contest if there will be one, although observers have noted that the Rudd camp had been quiet recently.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese also dismissed reports that Ms Gillard is keeping her distance from Mr Shorten because of speculations that the Workplace minister has shifted loyalty to Mr Rudd.