A photo of a crocodile in a popular park uploaded to social media by Queensland Premier Steven Miles has been found to be fake, with a state MP taking the Prime Minister to task over the playful post.
The photo taken on Wednesday above a splash park in Wujal Wujal, far north Queensland, was uploaded to X by Mr Miles.
‘I picked this up from the air in Wujal Wujal. See what used to be the city splash park. It’s full of mud, but that’s not the surprise,” he wrote.
‘Zoom in to see.’
Aussies were left stunned after Queensland Premier Steven Miles posted a photo on social media of an unusual visitor to a popular splash park (pictured) in far north Queensland
The post appeared to reveal a shocking discovery of a crocodile that had made its way into the park.
Mr Miles was visiting the rural town, four hours north of Cairns, as clean-up continues from the aftermath of Cyclone Jasper.
He said in the post that the government “will not rest” until the cleanup is completed and until the “Crocs are back where they belong.”
Social media users were baffled as they tried to spot the dangerous creature lurking in plain sight.
‘I do not see anything??’ wrote one.
‘Zoomed in and…what? What should I see?,” wrote another.
However, the image was a photo of a statue built along with the park as part of a state government program to build facilities for local communities worth millions of dollars.
The Prime Minister was criticized by federal MP and Member of Leichhardt Warren Entsch, who ordered him to have his eyes checked.
‘It looks like the Prime Minister should have gone to Spec Savers, he won’t put this crocodile back in the river – it’s a statue!’ Mr Entsch said.
‘I’m all for crocodile safety, but let’s deal with facts and not fantasy’
‘Hopefully local residents will get a bit of comic relief in these challenging times.’
A closer look revealed a crocodile (pictured) that had washed up in the park as a result of floods that devastated the rural town of Wujal.
The park was left in a pile of mud after the region was hit by record flooding and a heavy deluge of rain in December.
Queenslanders are busy cleaning up after damaging storms and winds from Cyclone Jasper uprooted trees (pictured)
Several coastal areas received up to 500mm of rain, flooding towns and leaving some almost completely submerged (pictured)
Wujal Wujal was one of the towns in northern Queensland hit by the damaging storms caused by Cyclone Jasper.
Several cities received as much as 500mm of rain in 24 hours, while gusts of 100km/h uprooted trees and downed power lines as the category two storm hit.
Tens of thousands of people were left without power and dozens of homes were damaged by flooding, as emergency services rushed to evacuate hundreds of locals in hard-hit areas.