Barring age difference, Irwin and Germaine would have made a great couple.

Both as outrageous as each other. No subtleties on either side.

I suspect she secretly admired him for his gall.

They both have (or had) the balls to say what they thought, nothing PC from either of them.

CRIKEY, what a miserable p old hag germaine is.let’s hope she stays in england,right at home with the whingeing poms.cheers crud.

Do you think that when that crazed former pupil tied Germaine up and threatened her with a knife it was the “student world” taking out its revenge on the source of an equally offensive noise? I wonder.

‘Cept Simon, I suspect that Steve Irwin would probably be more inclined to say it to your face, not wait until you’re dead.

Listening to Radio National this morning, with people like Philip Toyne being interviewed, it seems he did far, far more for the conservation movement than Greer gave him credit for.

Probably because she didn’t do her research.

Methinks she didn’t like another Australia stealing what was left of her thunder as the professional Aussie abroad in the big wide world.

But that’s probably an over-simplification, too.

Like everyone else, Germaine Greer has done good works and dumb things.  This probably falls into the latter category because nothing of any intellectual worth will come out of it.  She has defamed someone who cannot defend himself.  Her words carry no weight.

Steve Irwin’s filming techniques were questionable.

He got his money shots by provoking animals going about their business to feel threatened or intimidated. It made dramatic pictures but his antics didn’t demonstrate that he held a sensitive respect for his subjects. Leaping onto crocodiles, prodding scorpions, manhandling snakes. No wild animal was safe when he and the camera were about.

All Germaine Greer did in her article was convey what alot of people thought about him. Keep in mind too that she wrote that article for a British newspaper, not an Australian audience which seems to have gone into idolisation overload since his passing. Her sentiments were actually preety mild.

I suspect she is copping flak because she’s a woman with a feminist background that’s not backward in expressing herself. Even in this day and age that seems to rile up alot of people.

RIP Steve Irwin, you did your bit for conservation but sometimes you came across as a real twat

What did Steve Irwin do for conservation?  Apart from engage in paid advertising for the Australian Government on the topic of quarantine?

And then, he idolised Australia’s biggest environmental vandal - John Howard.

Its hard to add much more to Lacker’s comment because he has summed it up nicely.

Steve Irwin seemed to me an unusual mix of rampant capitalist and passionate conservationist. Not a bad mix actually.

There was however no doubt that the croc-hunter was a savvy popularist who new how to work a crowd. Irwin was reliable. He consisitently and tirelessly sold us an image. A strange artificial construct. The Croc-Hunter. Always clad in the same Khaki shorts. Always loud, excessively excitable and larger than life, Irwin owned and exported that quintissentially Aussie term “Crikey” and gave it the edge that Dr.Harry never could.

Though infinitely more self conscious, Irwin, like the PM was a master at knowing what the masses wanted to see and hear, and delivering it. But like Warny, he came across as a bit of a dickhead (never quite reached Warny,s heights in that respect)and was prone to pushing the limits of good taste. Irwin simply lacked the class of a David Attenborough. Even when he was being publicly humiliated in the media and we thought we might be about to get a glimpse of the real man we found ourselves cringing with embarrassment as Irwin continued to sell us that kitsch persona.

Watch any episode of Irwins croc hunter series and within minutes you find yourself wrestling with awe at his bravery and anger at his blatant exploitation of his innocent animal subjects. Irwin traded on his bravery and skill with animals that he honed as a child. He cashed in on them and was prepared to crassly exploit animals onscreen to forge a massively profitable career. Steve Irwins programs appealed to the voyeur in us and I have to admit deriving pleasure watching him cheat death.

I believe Irwin was a sincere man and an advocate for the better treatment of animals. When he said he was committed to their conservation he meant it. Publicly, he just seemed to have a strange way of showing it sometimes. I am not much aware of Steve Irwin the conservationist, other than his role public educator advocacy and claims that he bought large tracts of land to protect animals. Greer should have explored this in her piece.

Irwin did though pack one hell of a life into 44 years, much more than I, and for that I cant help but admire this crazy cartoon-like man.

As for Germaine. I think that even if her article had been more balanced she would have been howled down in the face of the emotional one way traffic that is a nations extraordinarily overwrought grieving at the passing of the real “Crocodile Dundee”. It’s a shame though, a more balanced contribution from Greer may have actually spoken some reason in the discussion

let’s not knee jerk here.

the steve irwin being mourned is a media creation. his on-camera antics were about as far removed from conservation as you could get. harrassing animals is not conservation.

but that media caricature has done one thing: it has popularised the notion of conservation more than ever. it has put the concept of caring about (if not ‘for’) wildlife before a huge audience from the next generation.  that caricature is very much alive and kicking, and will probably continue to do so for a long while.

but the real life steve irwin bought up considerable tracts of land to retain as wildlife habitat. he did ~ off screen ~ put his money where his mouth was, which will benefit vastly greater numbers of animals than he ever pounced on.

germaine greer’s criticism of his on-screen presence was, as always, deathly accurate ~ and, as usual, ill timed. she is always out of her time. witness the growing number of wildlife authorities already saying much the same thing as she has, albeit more tactfully. tact has never been her strong suit. but then neither was it steve irwin’s.

let’s give them both credit for their abilities, and look fondly upon their failings. their abilities brought them to public prominence. their failings are what makes them endearing.

To put it simply, Steve’s heart was in the right place, even if his brain wasn’t!

I can not understand how people in this country take Greer seriously. I for one refuse to sit still and listen to someone who has actually been a Big Brother housemate. How elitist is that for you.

Sea Monsters

Why does a fisherman need a high powered rifle in South Eastern Australian waters.

Protection from monsters of the deep, from Jaws sized sharks or Pirates of the Carribbean perhaps?.

All of these movieworld fantasies of the sea surely cannot be realities for any of the modern fisherfolk of south eastern Australia.

Their concerns should lie in other realities.

How poisoned are the fish their family has feasted on, which introduced species will destroy their fishery or how long before overfishing collapses their livelihood and makes their investment valueless.

Of course what else to blame than the other fish eaters.

When the sea was full fish what was the seal population, or indeed that of whales, the bete noir of Faeroe Islanders and certain Japanese et al who claim all the fish are being eaten by whales.

Not that any past or even current overfishing has anything to do with a decline in fisheries in all the seas.

Nor would the polluting or destruction of fish breeding grounds and nurseries by coastal development have an impact on the capacity of fisherfolk to make a living.

Clearly the killers of the now rare Australian Fur Seal live in the fantasy world of dissociation where there is no connection between their actions and the impact of them, always the responsibility lies elsewhere.

The world of Howard, who loves to claim that Australia should do nothing immediate and meaningful about climate change because China emits so much.

This is not the world of all fisherfolk, most of whom have with the decline of the resource taken in many lessons on over-harvesting and sustainability and have attempted to manage a change in their practices.

However, the community has to act to protect innocent animals living naturally in their environment, as much as it is an ethical necessity, it is necessary to ensure continued ecosystem function and assist in restoring some semblance of balance and productivity to the natural systems upon which we all depend

In the unlikely event that another wanton destruction of wildlife was witnessed and the perpetrators caught I would suggest that 12months at a criminal training facility and a fine of $100,000 is not sufficient deterrent.

Loss of firearm and any other licenses involving a take from nature anywhere within Australia for life, not only for the perpetrators but also for anyone a found acting in concert with them should also apply on land and at sea to all found guilty of abusing or wantonly destroying natural resources.

Further, if a reasonable argument for carrying a high powered rifle at sea can be given then the ammunition allowed should be restricted, if not it should be banned in south eastern waters.

phill Parsons has no sympathy for the defense of I was drunk Your Honor, either. 2 youths, supposedly bored and drunk, ran over a tame kangaroo, backed over it and ran over it again. Life as a pedestrian would seem appropriate for the driver, clearly they cannot be trusted with a motor vehicle. And for his passenger, 1,000 hours of collecting dog turds at an animal welfare shelter or similar.

I wrote this in readiness for the verdict following the trial of the perpetrators.

However with the death of a great animal welfare advocate through misadventure whilst involved in that advocacy, I send my comments on the darker side of human behavior in relation to animals.

If the lauding of the work of Steve Irwin by Prime Ministers and Premiers is more than hot air for political advantage they will change the law covering the protection of animals to ensure that the perpetrators of cruelty and wanton destruction remember, if they are caught, that act for the rest of their miserable lives and so set an example for all others.