Crocodile Hunter, died doing what he loved most.

Perdana Menteri Aust, John Howard, mengomentarinya, bagi Australians kematian Steve bak Princess Diana.

Tepat sekali julukan (dan kampanye anti imigrasi) Australia sebagai negeri paling berbahaya. Natura dan faunanya memang ngga bisa dipungkiri unik, namun mematikan.

Setiap tahun pasti ada korban hiu, stingrays, jellyfish, stonefish, spiders, snakes.

Dan saya pun tengah terduduk di dapur sendirian menghadapi beberapa teks yang harus dibaca (untuk kelas), tv nyala dan kebetulan siang itu 3pm tengah ada news.

Mendadak, dan dalam sekejap, saya ngga bisa percaya, tewasnya Steve Irwin si Crododile Hunter, personage Aust paling populer dekade terakhir ini bak berita dari rumah.

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http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/irwin-didnt-intimidate-stingray/2006/09/05/1157222098946.html

Police have viewed video footage of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin's final moments
and ruled out that he was intimidating or threatening the stingray that killed
him.

Surf Life Saving Queensland has said it is vital not to swim over
rays as their barbs can inflict a fatal sting on the trunk of the body.

Irwin died after being stabbed by the ray's barbed tail as he swam over
it yesterday during a film shoot on tiger sharks at the Great Barrier Reef.

Authorities say stingrays only flick their barbs upwards in an
involuntary reflex action if they feel threatened.

Superintendent Mike
Keating said today police had viewed footage of Mr Irwin's death.

"There
is no evidence that Mr Irwin was intimidating or threatening the stingray,'' he
said.

"My advice is that he was observing the stingray. There are no
suspicious circumstances in relation to the death of Mr Irwin.''

Coroner
yet to rule out inquest

But a spokeswoman for the state coroner said
investigations into the death were continuing.

"Queensland police are
continuing their investigation into Mr Irwin's death on behalf of the Cairns
Coroner,'' she said.

"Once police finalise their investigation, a report
will be provided to the coroner, who will then determine whether a coronial
inquest is required. It is not possible to speculate on the duration of the
police investigation.''


Death in 'quintessentially Australian
circumstances'

Prime Minister John Howard told Federal Parliament today
that Steve Irwin died in "bizarre, tragic and in some respects quintessentially
Australian circumstances".

He said the death had shocked and horrified
people and "brought forth an outpouring of grief and an outpouring of emotional
expressions of regard for this remarkable man around the world".

His
comments came as Irwin's body was flown to the Sunshine Coast from far north
Queensland.


Irwin's close friend and manager, John Stainton, said
earlier that underwater video footage of the incident was "shocking".

He
told reporters earlier the underwater video footage, which he had handed to
police, was the worst thing he had ever seen, Sydney's 2GB radio reported this
morning.

"I have seen the footage and it's shocking," Mr Stainton said.

"It's a very hard thing to watch because you're watching somebody die
and it's terrible."

Mr Stainton, also a producer and director of Irwin's
popular television shows, said the footage showed Mr Irwin pulling the barb out
of his chest before losing consciousness.

'The tail came up'

"It
shows that Steve came over the top of the ray and the tail came up, and spiked
him here [in the chest], and he pulled it out and the next minute he's gone.

"That was it. The cameraman had to shut down."

Mr Stainton, who
was aboard Irwin's vessel Croc One when the tragedy occurred, said it was most
likely the television star and naturalist died almost immediately as a result of
the stingray's blow.

"[He was] probably a metre coming over the top of
it," he said.

"He was underwater. I think, and the coroner's report will
say what happened, but I think he died fairly instantly."

Mr Stainton
said he was still in disbelief that a stingray could claim his close friend's
life.

"He was always on the precipice," he said.

"He always
pushed himself to the very limits but I thought he was invulnerable and I think
he did too.

Close shaves

"I think we all had that belief that
we'd pull through whatever situation we were in and he has been in some very
close shaves with snakes and crocodiles.

"I would never imagine it to
come from something like a stingray."

A post-mortem examination has
confirmed Irwin died after being speared in the chest by a stingray's poisonous
barb.

Mr Stainton said Irwin's crew was struggling to come to terms with
the death.

"Devastated," Mr Stainton said when asked at a news
conference in Cairns today how Mr Irwin's crew was coping with the loss.

"As you can imagine, you guys shooting stuff and someone you're filming,
for years, has died in front of you, is shocking.

"It's a shocking
thing, traumatic, it's one of those things you don't expect and you have to deal
with it."

Politicians pay respects

Quoting actor Russell Crowe
to the House, Mr Howard said: "The Crocodile man Steve Irwin was the Australian
many of us aspire to be."

He described Irwin as a talented showman who
used his skills for good.

He praised his involvement in a highly
successful Customs campaign.

"His willingness to front the high profile
program Quarantine Matters was a great contribution to the quarantine cause and
the clean, green protected image that this country wants to continue and
represent to the rest of the world," Mr Howard said.

Mr Howard said
Irwin also made an important contribution to the Australian tourism industry.

The NSW Parliament paused in silence today as a mark of respect to
Irwin.

NSW lower house MPs today briefly suspended their deliberations
after party leaders expressed their sadness at Irwin's death.

Premier
Morris Iemma said Australia would seem like a smaller place without him.

Crikey fund announced

Irwin's conservation work would continue
despite his death yesterday, a close friend said today.

The executive
director of Irwin's Australia Zoo at Beerwah, near Queensland's Sunshine Coast,
pledged today that Irwin's work to protect wildlife would go on.

"We
have an obligation now to do more, and through his legacy we hope more
Australians and more people around the world will get into conservation,"
Michael Hornby told Channel Nine's Today program.

"Things like the
culling of wildlife, which Steve was very passionate [against]. That has to
stop. We've got to create safer habitats; we've got to carry on the mantle."

Irwin made a great contribution to the conservation movement around the
world, Mr Hornby said.

"I don't think we'll ever come to grips with his
impact," Mr Hornby said.

"It's not just the direct stuff, the land that
he has purchased to create habitats, the money he has invested, the motivation
that he has provided so many people.

"But it's because of him that other
people have now taken up a career or taken up a passion in conservation, and he
has directly influenced them, and hopefully many, many people to come."

Irwin was also a great friend, he said.

'Lovely guy'

"He's a lovely guy, you know. If you didn't know him, he kind of
polarised, I guess, some people. You know, the tall poppy syndrome; but as a
person, so genuine," Mr Hornby said.

"What you saw on TV was how he was
as a guy - always up, always motivated always inspiring, but always there for
you."

Earlier today, the American TV company that made the Crocodile
Hunter a household name in the US - Discovery Networks, which owns the Discovery
and Animal Planet channels - announced it would continue Irwin's legacy with the
creation of the Steve Irwin Crocodile Hunter Fund, nicknamed The Crikey Fund.

The fund will "honour Steve's passion and exuberance for conservation
and the animal kingdom" and will fund programs around the world.

It will
also aid Irwin's Australia Zoo as well as provide educational support for his
two young children.

State funeral offer

Queensland Premier Peter
Beattie says Irwin will get a state funeral if that's what his family wants.

Mr Beattie today said Irwin put Australia on the world map.

"He
will be remembered as not just a great Queenslander, but a great Australian," Mr
Beattie told Channel Seven.

"Whenever I travel overseas, particularly to
countries like the United States, he was certainly the most well known
Australian.

"People didn't know who our Prime Minister was, or who our
Premiers are, but they certainly know Steve Irwin."

Asked if his
Government would honour Irwin with a state funeral, Mr Beattie replied: "We will
honour Steve Irwin in whatever way his family wants."

But first it was
important to let his wife, Terri and two young children, who recently returned
to Queensland from Tasmania, deal with the tragedy, he said.

"Our first
thoughts have to be with Terri and the children and I don't want to say or do
anything that will make their grief worse because they are a wonderful family,"
Mr Beattie said.

"We will approach the family and we would obviously be
keen to honour him in some sort of way from the Queensland Government point of
view, from the state's point of view, but we would only do that with the
family's approval.

"They have to deal with this terrible news which has
shocked everyone."