Bob Katter, the Federal MP for Kennedy, says the attack highlights the need for crocodile safaris to keep numbers under control.
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Warren Enstch, the MP for the area, said the women had to accept some of the blame.
“This is a tragedy but it was avoidable”, he told reporters.
Entsch said that the beach the women had been swimming off of, Thornton Beach, is adjacent to a creek where crocodile-spotting tours are run by tourism operators.
The two women were not locals and might not have been aware that the area was well known as crocodile habitat, police said.
At the time of the attack just on 10.30pm, Sunday night, the missing woman’s compatriot called emergency services to say her friend had been attacked while the pair had been swimming near Cape Tribulation.
The women – who are both in their 40s – were attacked at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday when they were walking in shallow waters at Thornton Beach in northern Queensland, which is some 1,480 kilometers (920 miles) northwest of Brisbane.
Her friend Leanne tried to pull Cindy away from the crocodile, but was not successful. She is in stable condition, but “extremely traumatized by the event”, NBC reported. Noble said that she was traumatized by the incident that occurred.
Senior Constable Russell Parker said the women – Australians visiting the area – were in the water when one of them was grabbed, with her friend desperately trying to drag her to safety. Miss Mitchell, 47, tried to free her but Miss Waldron, who is from New Zealand, was dragged into the sea.
Parker added that the surviving woman was “very, very shaken and shocked” but appeared to have escaped with only grazes.
Witnesses reportedly heard Waldron scream, “A croc’s got me, a croc’s got me!”. However, authorities have been unsuccessful in locating the missing woman. A search and rescue effort resumed on Monday, via helicopter, boat and land, according to CBS.
A tourist is feared to have been killed by a crocodile after going for a late-night swim at an Australian beach – despite signs warning of the danger.
Darwin-based crocodile expert Grahame Webb said while most crocodiles were found in rivers, swamps and other protected waterways, open beaches in northern Australia were not safe.
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In 2008, following another suspected fatal crocodile attack, Mr Katter said he would like to see the responsible croc “through the tip of the fore sight and the shoulders of the rear sight of my rifle”.
