A CAIRNS politician is demanding an apology after he was publicly accused of parking in a disabled spot in the city centre.

A photograph of Cairns MP Gavin King’s electoral car, parked at The Pier in a bay with striped yellow lines with faded disability markings, went viral online yesterday, sparking a war of words between Mr King and several social media users.

Mr King had parked in the bay while attending a Queensland Police Service media event on the Cairns Esplanade around 12.45pm.

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When taken to task over his parking, Mr King returned fire on social media, pointing out the bay’s markings were “as clear as mud.”

“Disabled parks never have ‘big yellow stripes’, there were no stand up blue disabled signs and other ‘big yellow stripe’ parks in the Pier carpark are trade/loading zones,’’ Mr King wrote.

“Apart from the moral prerogative, given the prominence of my name and face on my car I would not willingly park in a disabled spot.”

He added that he assumed the bay was a loading zone.

PARKING IS DRIVING US MAD

“Without a stand-up blue disabled sign, yellow markings on the ground (which are generally used for loading zones) and no clear painted sign on the ground, I assumed it was a loading zone, which anyone can park in for up to 20 minutes,’’ he wrote.

“That’s why I parked there while welcoming 10 new police officers to Cairns.”

Mr King wrote that his office had lodged a request with Cairns Regional Council to clarify the correct usage designated for the parking spot, asking for it to be clearly marked and signposted once the correct usage was determined.

WHAT’S BEING SAID ON SOCIAL MEDIA

@craigjack36 @dickfaber @PhilGraingar @gavking ...is the owner of the Gavin King car disabled or is LNP taking over disabled parking spots? — megan (@mrl58) June 30, 2014

The council’s access and equity officer, Ian Chill, confirmed to The Cairns Post late yesterday that Mr King was within his right to park in the space, as it and the bay next to it were not clearly designated as disabled parking bays.

“They’re not clear how they are marked and they’re certainly not a regulated zone at the moment,’’ he said.

He said because the signposts had been removed, anyone could park there until the disabled bays were properly reinstated.

“I’ve actually just chased up with (the council) to get them re-marked,’’ he said.

“It was supposed to get done a little while ago, but because of Festival Cairns and the other works going on, it’s made it quite difficult to get them sorted out.”

THE $230,000 MEN

Mr King later told the Post he would be seeking an apology from the person who originally posted the photo of his car online, who had accused him of parking illegally.

“I never have and never will park in a disabled parking spot,’’ he said.

“I just urge people to have some caution before they use social media.”

According to the council, only motorists holding blue and red permits are permitted to park in onstreet and off-street disability parking bays.

Those who are found to stop in a parking area for people with disabilities can face a fine of about $160.

“People don’t do anything when there are regular people parking there, but if it is a person who is a public figure, they’ll certainly jump on it,’’ Mr Chill said.

“It’d be nice if they jumped up and down all the time.”