Tony Abbott was making an important phone call. The internet would have you believe that there was a woman on the other end of the line, speaking into a banana.

The Prime Minister has become the butt of jokes on social media after tweeting a photograph of himself on Wednesday evening in which he appeared sombre-faced while talking on the phone.

The reason for the call was serious, he tweeted to his 280,000 followers.

‘‘Just got an update on the search for #MH370 from JACC Chief Coordinator Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston (Ret’d),’’ Mr Abbott wrote, referring to the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines passenger jet.