Australian leaders pay tribute to Irwin

Federal Parliament took a break from the business of running the country today as political leaders in Canberra paid tribute to a favourite Australian son, Steve Irwin.

The man widely known as The Crocodile Hunter was praised for such diverse contributions to the nation as promoting Australian quarantine regulations and revitalising an old-fashioned Australian term: “Crikey!”.

Prime Minister John Howard, who had come to know Irwin personally, described the television presenter and conservationist killed by a stingray yesterday as “a great Australian icon”.

“Steve Irwin’s death yesterday in bizarre, tragic and in some respects quintessentially Australian circumstances has not only shocked and horrified the people of Australia, but it has brought forth an outpouring of grief and … emotional expressions of regard for this remarkable man around the world,” Howard told the Parliament.

“There was nothing contrived; he was a genuine, one-off, remarkable Australian individual and I am distressed at his death,” Howard added.

Kim Beazley, leader of the opposition Labour Party, credited Irwin with giving “crikey” a currency in the Australian vernacular that had been lacking for almost 40 years.

The US Embassy in Canberra issued a statement saying its staff mourned Irwin’s death.

“As the Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin was in many ways an unofficial Australian ambassador to the United States,” the statement said.

“With his humour and irrepressible sense of adventure, he represented those things our citizens find most appealing about Australia and its wonderful way of life.”