WHO would have thought that one little car park would create such a public furore?

Cairns MP Gavin King said he had not ruled out taking legal action against the person who posted a picture on Facebook of his car parked in what appeared to be a disabled parking space at The Pier.

The incident took place on Monday while Mr King was attending a Queensland Police Service media event.

While subsequent investigations by Cairns Regional Council have shown Mr King was not in the wrong, the incident has set social media and public debate alight.

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Followers continued to question Mr King’s parking position, particularly after he previously declared on Facebook the spot was instead a loading zone.

“Sign or no sign, the park is clearly painted in yellow diagonal stripes, for whatever reason or none, one should not park in a space with such ambiguity,” one reader said.

Another added: “I have never seen a loading zone with a wheelchair painted on the ground and why are you parking there if you are not loading? Do you not consider those that have to load goods?”

Mr King now claims the post was defamatory, because while there was no text ­accusing him of committing the act, it could be insinuated from the picture.

“It’s disappointing that ­unfortunately someone has posted something on social media without checking all the facts,” he said.

“It essentially says or suggests that I was parking illegally in a disabled car park when that’s not the case.

“So I have to have a look at those issues in terms of some legal implications and certainly I’ve got a solicitor looking at those issues.”

He said he was “not particularly” surprised the issue had caused such a stir.

But it “ belittles the political debate”.

Later last night the person responsible for posting the picture issued an apology to Mr King.

In it he said he accepted “unreservedly that this allegation is untrue and that the parking bay in question was not a disabled bay or any kind of regulated parking and that your were within your rights to park where you did”.

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WHAT’S BEING SAID ON SOCIAL MEDIA

If you ever want to turn a dud park into a full-blown media crisis please hire @gavking #qldpol — Matt Burke (@matttburke) July 2, 2014

So has the disabled parking RT @gavking: JUST ANNOUNCED: the surgical long wait list at Cairns Hospital has been reduced to zero. — Sue Lappeman (@suelapp) July 2, 2014