Free Republic

QUEENSLAND'S Coalition parties are at odds over whether the media focus on Steve Irwin's death has killed off their chances of winning Saturday's state election. Liberal state director Geoff Greene today said Irwin's death on Monday after he was stabbed by a stingray's barb, had blunted a positive response to the Coalition's campaign launch the previous day. "It's all over isn't it. Who could predict this?" Mr Greene was quoted as saying in today's Australian Financial Review newspaper. "The reality is, in this election Steve Irwin is the news from now until the weekend. "Those stingrays are public enemy No.1...

BEERWAH, Australia "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin's widow thanked the staff of his wildlife park in her first comments on his death, a spokesman said Wednesday, as she considered whether to accept the offer of a state funeral or hold a more private ceremony. Terri Irwin spoke late Tuesday over the internal public address system at Australia Zoo, the crocodile farm and animal preserve that was the global television personality's home base in southeastern Queensland state, thanking staff for their support, spokesman Michael Hornby said. "It was very brief. She was very choked up. It was a very frail comment," Hornby...

AN American diver who owes his life to Steve Irwin says he was shattered to learn about the Crocodile Hunter's death. "He saved my life," an emotional Scott Jones said today from his home in Iowa. "I've lost a good friend." Mr Jones was part of a tragic scuba diving expedition in the Sea of Cortez, off the coast of Mexico, in 2003. Mr Jones' friend, 77-year-old Katie Vrooman, died during the dive after a sea surge knocked her twice against rocks. Mr Jones fought to hold on to her unconscious body for almost two hours and, while hanging off...

Steve Irwin had such a profound impact on children that many parents believe his tragic death will be a landmark for kids in the way the deaths of John F Kennedy and Princess Diana were for adults. Many younger Australians were grieving for the Crocodile Hunter as if they had lost a member of their own family, parents say. "This guy has been in our lounge room for years," said one Sydney mother who has been consoling her tearful primary schooler since breaking the news the TV wildlife enthusiast had died after a stingray barb punctured his chest while filming...

Feminist Greer slams Steve's antics By Fiona Hudson in London September 06, 2006 01:00am Article from: The Daily Telegraph AS glowing tributes and praise for Steve Irwin filled newspapers and television screens around the world, fellow Australian Germaine Greer launched a distasteful tirade on the much-loved Crocodile Hunter yesterday. Most London papers carried sympathetic news articles, features, columns and obituaries mirroring the disbelief felt in Australia. But Greer launched a scathing attack on Irwin, declaring "the animal world has finally taken its revenge". In her column in The Guardian newspaper, Greer said the wildlife warrior displayed the "sort of self-delusion...

OK, here's a thread where all the Steve Irwin bashers can post away to their hearts content. Please leave the threads titled "In Memory..." or "Tribute to..." alone. Not every single thread about Steve Irwin on FR has to include the incident of him holding his son in the croc enclosure, a mention of Darwin, and/or the word "Fool" Sometimes the old saying is true "If you can't say something nice about someone, don't say anything at all."

THE world mourns. The world-famous wildlife warrior Steve Irwin has died a hero, doing the thing he loved, filming a sequence for a new TV series. Irwin was the real Crocodile Dundee, a great Australian, an ambassador for wildlife, a global phenomenon, a superhuman generator of merchandise, books, interactive video games and action figures. The only creatures he could not dominate were parrots. A parrot once did its best to rip his nose off his face. Parrots are a lot smarter than crocodiles. What seems to have happened on Batt Reef is that Irwin and a cameraman went off in...

Croc Hunter's Politics [Jonah Goldberg] From a reader: Irwin never talked much about politics. It wasn’t his thing – obviously. But, when he did, he proudly touted his conservative philosophies and was a staunch support of PM John Howard’s. He was a guest on Laura Ingraham’s radio show several years back and I was pretty shocked to learn of his politics. He was, of course, a conservationist and a lover of animals. But he never struck me as a PETA type – which, silly me, I assumed he would’ve been. Hopefully, Laura will chime in with her own reminiscing of...

stingray barb through the chest - was a victim of 'voyeuristic wildlife TV', fellow experts said today. As tributes poured in for the quirky 44-year-old, survival expert Ray Mears said his death was a "sobering lesson". Mears said the Australian's death was a tragedy and his heart went out to his family. But he added that it proved "some things in nature should be left alone". He said: "He clearly took a lot of risks and television encouraged him to do that. "It's a shame that television audiences need that to be attracted to wildlife. "Dangerous animals, you leave them...

Steve Irwin dead at 44, diving and killed by a stingray. Survived by wife and two children, RIP. Reports: Australia’s ‘Crocodile Hunter’ Steve Irwin killed The Associated Press Monday, September 4, 2006 Brisbane, Australia — Steve Irwin, the hugely popular Australian television personality and environmentalist known as the “Crocodile Hunter,” was killed Monday by a stingray during a diving expedition, Australian media said. He was 44. Irwin was filming an underwater documentary on the Great Barrier Reef in northeastern Queensland state when the accident occurred, Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported on its Web site. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. said...

He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a stingray barb that went through his chest. He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured.

<p>He was killed in a freak accident in Cairns, police sources said. It is understood he was killed by a sting-ray barb that went through his chest.</p> <p>He was swimming off the Low Isles at Port Douglas filming an underwater documentary and that's when it occured.</p>

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) -- "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin won't be charged with any offense for holding his 1-month-old son while feeding one of his crocs, a public display that shocked viewers around the world. After interviewing Irwin, the Office of Workplace Health and Safety said Thursday there was not enough evidence to suggest that he and his Australia Zoo reptile park had violated any safety regulations. Irwin was reprimanded by Queensland's Department of Family Services after the Jan. 2 stunt, but the agency took no action against him. Police also declined to file charges. Irwin, the TV host of the...

BRISBANE, Australia - Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin took his month-old son to his first croc feeding on Friday, offering the reptile a chicken with one hand and holding the baby in the other. With a capacity crowd looking on, Irwin dangled a dead chicken before the 13-foot crocodile named Murray, which snapped up the offering. Irwin's tiny son Bob looked on from his other arm. "He's one-month-old, so it's about time Bob got out there and did his first croc demo," the Australian celebrity told the crowd at his Australian Zoo. Irwin's wife Terri, who gave birth to her second...

Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin has defended his decision to hold his baby son while feeding a crocodile, saying it was important to teach kids about danger. Friday's incident at Mr Irwin's Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast made headlines internationally and prompted comparisons with Michael Jackson's notorious dangling of his baby over a balcony. Mr Irwin also earned a reprimand from Queensland's Department of Family Services. At a media conference outside the zoo and flanked by his father Bob, wife Terri and daughter Bindi, Mr Irwin claimed he was hurt by the allegations of child neglect. "I am hurt. I...

Irwin Takes Baby to Crocodile Feeding BRISBANE, Australia - Crocodile hunter Steve Irwin took his month-old son to his first croc feeding on Friday, offering the reptile a chicken with one hand and holding the baby in the other. With a capacity crowd looking on, Irwin dangled a dead chicken before the 13-foot crocodile named Murray, which snapped up the offering. Irwin's tiny son Bob looked on from his other arm. "He's one-month-old, so it's about time Bob got out there and did his first croc demo," the Australian celebrity told the crowd at his Australian Zoo. Irwin's wife Terri,...

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) -- Crikey! George W. Bush came face to face with the Crocodile Hunter at a traditional Aussie barbie - or barbecue - lunch at Prime Minister John Howard's official residence. Steve Irwin, star of the "Crocodile Hunter" television show in which he regular wrestles huge reptiles, was among 70 guests at the daytime party for the visiting U.S. president. The meal started shrimps and scallops in a chili and coriander sauce followed by beef fillet and lamb cutlet with asparagus, baby rocket and tomato jus. Dessert was macadamia pavlova roulade with passionfruit ice cream. That's more...