Australian MP gets caught praising himself on Facebook Published duration 1 May 2019 Related Topics Australia election 2019

image copyright Twitter

An Australian politician has been mocked on social media after he posted a reply to his own Facebook post saying how "fantastic" he was.

Angus Taylor, a Liberal MP for Campbelltown and energy minister, posted a Facebook video on Monday announcing 1,000 extra parking spaces at railway stations in New South Wales.

The news has been welcomed by many people on Facebook, but some eagle-eyed users spotted that Mr Taylor had praised himself from his own social media account.

Mr Taylor replied to the post, saying: "Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus."

His team quickly deleted his self-congratulatory comment.

But social media users wasted no time in mocking the former cyber-security minister's Facebook fumble. Many people simply repeated his comment in his subsequent posts, by posting: "Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus".

Twitter user @mumdaze commented that it is "a mistake anyone can make on a hectic campaign trail".

The minister made the faux pas while campaigning for the Australian federal election, which takes place on 18 May.

image copyright Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images image caption The Liberal MP made his gaffe during the federal election campaign

Journalist Anthony Caruana speculated that Mr Taylor or his social media manager may make the mistake because they have multiple social media accounts, and posted the praise comment without checking which one they were logged into.

He wrote that the key lesson is "ensuring you use the right account when commenting or posting".

Mr Taylor's office has yet to comment on his self-praise and claims that he or his staff often comment in praise of his own social media posts from different accounts.

He is not the first politician to commit a blunder on social media.

Former Labour politician Ed Balls became a social media sensation in 2011.