Australia awestruck by global outpouring for "Crocodile
Hunter"
05 September 2006 1038 hrs (SST) 0238 hrs (GMT)
SYDNEY - Australians were surprised but proud Tuesday at the global
outpouring of shock over the death of maverick "Crocodile Hunter"
Steve Irwin, who once said his countrymen found him
embarrassing.
The Australian media coverage of Irwin's shocking death Monday by a
stingray barb to the heart focused not only on his remarkable
career but also on his massive appeal overseas, where the "ocker"
Aussie adventurer was far more popular than he ever was at
home.
"When I see what's happened all over the world, they're looking at
me as this very popular wildlife warrior," Irwin once said of his
megastar status abroad, especially in the United States where he
was a huge cultural icon.
"And yet back here in my own country, some people find me a little
bit embarrassing," said the exuberant broadcaster, whose thick
Aussie twang was complemented by his trademark khaki Australian
bush outfit.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio launched its early
morning news bulletins with a look at the vast foreign newspaper,
radio, television and Internet coverage of the passing of one of
the country's best-known exports.
Other local media also noted that the 44-year-old Irwin's
international popularity had outstripped his appeal at home,
focusing on the US media eulogies to the man who had become the
face of Australia in America.
"Irwin was probably better known overseas, especially in the United
States, than at home," Melbourne's The Age newspaper said of the
environmentalist killed by a stingray Monday while filming an
underwater documentary.
Politicians also mourned the loss of a great ambassador for their
country.
"He was a magnet, he was a drawcard, and he was well known around
the world. Everybody knew him. He was one of those great
quintessential Australian faces that people recognised everywhere,"
said Prime Minister John Howard.
Opposition leader Kim Beazly said the global reaction to the
larger-than-life Irwin's untimely death was comforting for
Australia.
"He did claim in his lifetime, Steve Irwin, that he was bigger than
10 bears in the United States," Beazly told reporters in
Canberra.
"I think the case has been proven today, as in the United States on
news service after news service, talk back show after talk back
show, the man had become Australia's icon really for the rest of
the world," he said.
The premier of the state of Queensland, where Irwin lived and died,
said Irwin had been the most famous Australian on earth, notably in
America where impersonations of his brash and loud manner are a
dime a dozen.
"Whenever I travel overseas, particularly to countries like the
United States, he was certainly the most well known Australian,"
said Peter Beatty.
"People didn't know who our prime minister was, or who our premiers
are, but they certainly know Steve Irwin," Beatty said. -
AFP/ir
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/palmnews/afp_asiapacific/view/228629/1/.html
