PURPLE'S ZOO

Sent: 9/4/2006 9:23 PM

Steve Irwin on "Enough Rope", ABC TV

Taped 23 October 2003, repeated 4 September 2006, the day of Steve's untimely death

Transcript of presenter Andrew Denton interviewing Steve Irwin,

Andrew: If you spliced the genes of Sir David Attenborough with those of the cartoon Tasmanian devil, you'd come up with something like my first guest - an Australian conservationist whose high-decibel, over-the-top personality has made him, with 200 million viewers in 35 countries - count them - perhaps the most famous Australian in the world today. Ladies and gentlemen, yes, Steve Irwin.

Steve Irwin: G'day! Hey, Andrew, how are you, mate?

Andrew Denton: Stevo!

Steve Irwin: Whoo! Whoo! How you going, mate?

Andrew Denton: I'm good.

APPLAUSE CONTINUES

Steve Irwin: Thanks. Thank you very much.

Andrew Denton: Steve Irwin...

Steve Irwin: Yes?

Andrew Denton: ..I'm looking forward to this, it'll be fun.

Steve Irwin: It will be. I'm on fire, mate. Let's get into it.

Andrew Denton: We're already at the red level for energy and haven't got to the first question. The Australia Zoo, which is now Steve Irwin central on the Sunshine Coast...

Steve Irwin: Yeah, mate, that's where my heart beats from.

Andrew Denton: This was started by your mum and dad...

Steve Irwin: Yeah.

Andrew Denton: ..back in the '70s. And it was hard, wasn't it? It was so hard sometimes, your mum would cry. What was so tough?

Steve Irwin: Well, mate, it was 1970 and, um, Dad was a plumber - really well-to-do plumber - he did really well in Melbourne. But he gave it all away to follow his passion - reptiles. And Mum was a maternity nurse who actually wanted to follow her passion, which was joey kangaroos and koalas and wombats and platypus - raising them - you know, they're getting hit by cars all the time. So, together, they started the Beerwah Reptile Park in 1970. And it was tough times. We were on the main highway - like, the Bruce Highway - but, um, it was the Beerwah Reptile Park. And at that stage, snakes were something you hit with a stick, you know, crocodiles were just evil, ugly monsters that killed people and koalas and kangaroos made, you know, great, um, fur coats.

Andrew Denton: Yeah.

SI: So it was hard times, mate.

AD: They weren't a bad barbecue either.

SI: Ohhh! Lucky enough, we're kind of...we're putting our foot on that kind of attitude, but, um...

AD: No, that was wrong, people.

SI: And it was, yeah, tourism... Exactly. And I'm bigger than you, mate.

AD: Yeah.

SI: Hey, um, tourism... Just kidding. Steady.

AD: This could be bad if you wrestle me to the ground...

SI: Should we do that?

AUDIENCE: Yeah!

SI: Yeah? Alright!

CHEERING AND APPLAUSE

AD: Tell you what...

SI: (Laughs)

AD: ..let's get a bit further in and we'll see how we go, alright?

SI: Yeah.

AD: Because I want to oil up first...

SI: (Laughs) Seriously, tourism, was, you know, it was in its infancy back then and it was so tough that Dad had to go fishing on the sideline, he had to grow strawberries and capsicums to actually support, um, his...his passion, which was his wildlife facility.

AD: You grew up with the animals. They were your playmates.

SI: Absolutely. Absolutely, Andrew. In my house, when I was growing up, Mum would have 12, uh, pouches, you know, make-believe kangaroo pouches set up on the backs of chairs, virtually everywhere. So we'd have 12 little joeys, ranging from little pinkies all the way up to one-year-olds. Um, you know, koalas hanging off the curtains, you know, with gumleaves stuck in there, sugar gliders gliding through. Like, you'd be walking down through the house... (To cameraman) Stay with me, mate. ..the next minute, clack, you know, on your bare back you'd be...a possum - arggh! - ripped into you. And, of course, inside the house was just snakesville.

AD: Really?

SI: Oh, crikey, mate! Chock-a-block full of snakes. Every wall that was spare had snakes in it. You know, starting a reptile park, which then became a fauna sanctuary, it was like, whatever you could jam in the house, mate, 'cause everything needed to be close to your heart.

AD: Your dad actually reckons you've got a gift.

SI: Yeah.

AD: An animal instinct which enables you to deal with animals. What is that gift, do you think?

SI: Yeah, well, um, Dad was the first one to notice it - and good on him. I'm just a product of my parents and my environment. And I was four years old and Dad was catching snakes for the then Commonwealth Serum Laboratory, right? He was looking for brown snakes and tiger snakes at a place called Bulla in Victoria. And so we're looking for tiger snakes and brown snakes and I'm four years old and rattling around helping him. But, you know, I was playing imaginary games, imaginary armies. You know, shooting back at the...it was Japanese back then, 'cause my grandfather and great-grandfather died in WWII, so it was the Japanese I was hunting. Whatever. Please don't... Like, I...I drive a Toyota.

AD: Yeah.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

SI: So, nonetheless... Hunting around, hunting around, and Dad's over there and here's this huge brown snake - a absolute whopper, well over five foot. (Stands up) I've come up and gone, "Oh! Oh! Oh!" (Stomps foot on imaginary snake) Like this. "Oh! Oh!" You know? Got it. "Dad! Dad! I got one! I got one!" And he's, like, "What is he on about?" "Look!" And here's this brown snake, Andy, and it's up on my shin. Like, I'm wearing plastic sandals. No socks either. And here's this brown snake with its head on my leg and I've got it pinned, almost as thick as my dad's wrist. And he's gone, "Whack," and belted me out of the way, crushed me like a bug. 'Cause I thought... I'd got this brown snake for him and thought I'd come out of this a hero, and he decks me. But he thought he saved my life, and, you know, for months, he's scratching his head. "How come that kid never got killed by that brown snake?" And I guess he figured it out then. He's figured, "This kid's got something." So, you know, he's watched this develop. Then Mum and Dad just propped me up. Just propped me up. Every time I'd make mistakes, they'd keep, "Hang in there, lad, hang in there." And they just kept helping me and persuading me to follow my passion, which was wildlife. And that, in essence, helped me be who I am.

AD: I'm fascinated with this idea of this gift. Do you have a sense of it? When dealing with an animal, do you have a sense of, "I know what you'll do"? I mean, can you pick its personality, for instance? What is it in your head?

SI: How on earth could I explain that? You know, I'm in Africa, right, and here's...here's...here's a pride of lions. I've never worked with lions in my life, ever. Righto. Got a camera crew with me. I'm, like, "Oh, yeah, there's a pride of lions. "Oh, I'm going to crawl up to them." Like, last week, a Japanese tourist got killed and eaten by a lion, probably the same pride that did it. But for some known...unknown thing that goes in my head and my heart, I know what I can do. So I get on all fours and I go up to these lions and sneak right up to them. And Johnny Stainton, who's around here somewhere, he's filming it, and he's like this... (Blows raspberry) "What's he doing?" I get up to the lions and go, "Eh!" They go, "Waaah!" and run off. How do you explain that? I don't know how to explain that. And I've never been bitten by a venomous snake. I play with them every day - well, kind of play with them - and never, ever been bitten. And I think that's, um...it's because when I grab a venomous snake, it's, like, going in on your shoelace. It's, like, people tie their shoes... (Grabs Andrew's shoelace roughly)

AD: Yeah?

SI: Yeah. Don't really give a rip. Whereas me, it's like, "Oh." (Gently handles shoelace) You know, you're very gentle with the shoelace. It's like this, mate. Most people deal with snakes - no, fair dinkum - the first thing they do is go for the head. Get them from the head, right?

AD: Yeah.

SI: (Reaching for Andrew's neck) What's the sensation when someone goes for your head? Pretty threatening, isn't it?

AD: Yeah.

SI: Instantaneous, you're like...you know, you're freaking out. So the snake starts freaking. So what I do is gently coerce the snake. Hence, mucked with more venomous snakes than anyone in the world and never been bitten. It's a gift.

AD: We've got footage here of you meeting a komodo dragon. Let's check this out.

(FOOTAGE OF SI) SI: I never really understood the potential danger that I was getting myself into. I never quite realised that these two giant goannas saw me as a food source. And as I approached, unknowingly, they just struck straight at me, going for my calf muscles, trying to pull them out.

KOMODO DRAGONS RUN TOWARDS CAMERA

SI: Their teeth are like razors. One bite, one laceration, and I'd bleed out and be dead in an instant. The smell would send other dragons into a frenzy and they'd come from everywhere. (To camera) Holy smokes! That was too close. Let's follow them.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

SI: Wild lizard.

AD: Tell the truth - is there ever a time when you're afraid?

SI: Yeah, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty, plenty. Plenty of times. Unfortunately, in my line of work, I have to deal in some really heavy-duty places, you know, like, um, East Timor, for example. I was up there when there was some strife going on. I spend a fair bit of time in Central and South America with a bit of strife going on there, had a couple of nasty incidents happen in Africa, in Kenya, not long after the Nairobi bombing, actually. Yeah, they make me scared, like, you know, pretty scared. But what scares me more than anything is bringing my daughter into the world. The world has changed, Andrew, hasn't it? You know, there's this dark cloud of terrorism. She's been on 230-odd flights, I think, and she's, like, just five years old. So we spend a lot of time in planes, 'cause I like to take my family wherever I go in the world. People factor does actually scare the living daylights out of me, and I've seen some pretty awful, icky sort of things going on.

AD: So animals don't scare you but humans do?

SI: Oh, fair dinkum, mate, they do, yeah, they do.

AD: I want to talk more about family in a little bit, but I'm curious in you offstage when you're not performing. Is there anything in your wardrobe that's not khaki?

SI: Ah, I've got a pair of jeans.

AD: Yeah?

SI: I've got a pair of jeans and I'm constantly given shirts. I had the world's top surfers, actually, up at the zoo, and I was filming with them. They gave me a heap of shirts and I've got a lot of shirts. I don't wear them, but I get given a lot of gear. You know, surf wear and, like, the Andrew Denton show shirt and stuff.

AD: Yeah, yeah, we're getting that to you, yes.

SI: But, basically, I've got more khakis than you poke a stick at. How's this, though? What a coup. Like, this is so Australian. So I do this movie, right? MGM - the big MGM - righto? Mud Guts McGraw signs us up for this movie, and there's a lot of dough in it, and, oh, you know, and there's this person looks after wardrobe. So they just get me, like, packets of khakis. This is some of them. See how they're really nice and shiny? These are straight out of the packet, mate.

AD: Yeah, this is formal khaki.

SI: Absolutely. Special show, special gig, this one. So they, um...oh, you know, "And how many will you need?" I said, "Oh, jeez, big shoot - 40," knowing darn well I'm only going to need, you know, a dozen sets 'cause, you know, it's only easy to wash. So I've still got dozens of them left in the packs. Talk about rip off the big people, eh? It's all about what falls off the back of the truck.

AD: (Laughs uproariously) And, you know, to this day the management of MGM are going, "Goddamn! We've been swindled out of all our khaki reserves!"

SI: That's right. It's all about what fell off the back of the truck.

AD: Are you always at this level? Is there a quiet Steve Irwin?

SI: Nah.

LAUGHTER

SI: Nah, mate, nah.

AD: Seriously?

SI: Yeah, no, there is, there is. Like, I got...I had my shoulder taken off twice. (Opens shirt and indicates place) Um, oh, God, I was quiet then, mate.

AD: Yeah.

SI: And I had a few cartilage operations, so stuck in the hospital with the drips and all that.

A: Beyond being heavily medicated, is there...do you have moments of repose, moments of just, "I'll just take it in and sit quietly"?

S: Nah. You know, I have to do a lot of plane flights, and, uh...oh, I'm a handful. I don't know, I haven't made it in the tabloids as the bloke who started the riots and stuff on the planes YET, but I guarantee you it will happen. You know, you can't hang your arm out the window and you can't stop and have a pee and look at the wildlife. You're stuck in this thing for, like, sometimes 14 hours in a leg. You know, like, going to America is a 14-hour stint, mate. It's shocking awful to sit there. And all the... You can't, I'm just... I like a good movie, but not five of them in a row. It's, like... And, you know, I don't read much, you know, like, I'm just...

A: You don't read? How come you don't read?

S: Well, I do read, but, you know, not for 14 hours. You know, surf mags take a good 20 minutes.

A: Do you talk to the person next to you?

S: No, I try not to.

A: Really?

S: Yeah, because normally it's John Stainton. Yeah, he's my manager, so, yeah, no. Avoid talking to him at every opportunity.

A: Do you ever get down? You talked about being frightened by human behaviour. What gets you down?

S: Um, I've been down, mate, I've been down, I've been way down. I've been down...I've been down as far as anyone can go down, mate. I lost my mum in a car crash. I went down, I went right down. I watched my dad suffer. I watched my whole family suffer. And I have never felt pain like that in my entire life, my friend. And what it did for me was it actually hammered home the whole family value thing and what it's like to have a family and you're all...everybody's someone's mum, you know? And I was down, I was down for the count. I was down for...two years I was down. Way down.

A: You...

S: Pain.

A: You truly adore your parents, don't you?

S: I love my parents just so much, mate. You know, like my mum... How'd you be, you know? I was born on her birthday, and all she ever did was just love me and prop me up and get me back out in there. And my dad - just the legend of the universe. When I was the tiniest little kid, Andrew, I'd look up at my dad and he was larger than life, he was just like this action hero. He was everything I wanted to be. And all I've done in my life is follow in his footsteps, mimic him and try to be him. And nowadays I just try to make him proud, mate. Yeah, I love my parents like nothing else. It's just... They are everything to me - absolutely everything. And the day that my mum went was the day I lost something. I lost something. I lost something really big.

A: It's interesting when you say you've mimicked your parents, you look up to your dad, you've basically carried on the family business. Do you have a sense of yourself as yourself? What will it be for you when your father goes? Will you be able to be yourself?

S: I see my dad getting older and older and older, and I must admit I'm scared, I'm really, really scared, that when I lose him that my life is going to change yet again. I am going to go down again. But I'm really lucky that I've got the most drop-dead gorgeous wife on earth, who is just so strong and so passionate and so Stevo-orientated.

LAUGHTER

S: No, mate, you wouldn't... She is... If I said, "Righto, sweetheart, today we're going to jump off a cliff," she'll go, "Righto." She'd pack a bag, though.

CONTINUED.....

From: <NOBR>

Thubtenchokyi1</NOBR>

Sent: 9/4/2006 9:26 PM

Transcript of presenter Andrew Denton interviewing Steve Irwin,

... CONTINUED

S: No, mate, you wouldn't... She is... If I said, "Righto, sweetheart, today we're going to jump off a cliff," she'll go, "Righto." She'd pack a bag, though.

A: Yeah.

S: But she'd go, eh?

A: She's practical.

S: Yeah, I've got this thing...I've got the Terry factor, mate. I've got this wife that is so incredibly intelligent and strong that I reckon between us we'll get through it. And, of course, my daughter is like...she's going to be a Tibetan monk. She is, like, incredibly insightful. And when her gran died, she was very, very young but, you know, she'd hold my hand and she'd give me strength. And to this day, when I get an owie, like a croc bites me, you know, she'd put banana leaves on it and stuff, and, you know, make me feel good.

A: Yeah.

S: I guess when that time comes, because... I'm not sure what's going to happen but I've got some strong people, good strong family around me, mate.

A: You say that Terry's very Stevo-oriented.

S: Oh, yeah.

A: If Terry said to you, unlikely though this might be, "Steve, I want you to stop the travelling, I want you to just stay home," would you be prepared to do that? Does it work both ways? She'd jump over a cliff for you.

S: Absolutely, I'd do anything for her. Absolutely anything. My word. I got so lucky in 1992 when she walked into the zoo. I'm doing a crocodile demonstration, and I looked in the crowd. I'd been in the bush for two years catching crocs. Haven't seen any sheilas.
LAUGHTER

So, yeah, I was hungry. And, um, come back and I'm doing a croc demo, and I look into the crowd and I see her and I'm, like, "Oh!" (Looks one way) "Whoa whoa whoa!" (Looks back at imaginary croc) To feed the croc, you know... Bloody croc tried to kill me and that. She stayed back and started talking to me and that was it - head over heels in love. And if she says to me, "That's it, we're stopping, we're doing this," then, well, I'd do it, because I know that she would not ask me to do that if it wasn't for the benefit of us - the family. It would have to be for the benefit of my daughter and our kid that's due to come. Otherwise she wouldn't ask. She's not that...you know, she's not that kind of sheila, you know? She's into what I'm into. She's as passionate about wildlife as I am. If I said, "Go up and stick your head in that elephant's bum," she'd do it, mate.

A: You're a smooth talker, Steve Irwin

SI: I am, mate. I am. Romantic.

A: Foreplay in the Irwin family.

S: Yeah.

A: You said that getting married was the scariest day of your life. Why was that?

S: Scariest day of my life, mate. 'Cause, um...

A: Did you have a khaki tuxedo?

S: I had...I don't know, some penguin suit and it was black.

A: Yeah?

S: It wasn't khaki, so I'm already out of my element. And a tie! I was panicking. Absolutely panicking. Oooh, I've got something in me bottom. (Stands up) Oh. It's only... (Pulls out microphone and cord)

A: Crikey!

S: (Impersonates himself in action) Crikey, it's a radio mic! Have a look at this little beauty!

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

A: So what got you over the moment of panic?

S: Um... (Laughs) I don't know. I made it. I just made it. I just beared with it and got there. But I was panicked, mate. I was so panicked. My wife's going to kill me when I tell you this, but I'll tell you 'cause it's this kind of show. He just sucks it out of you, doesn't he? And I've seen that about your show! So I'm so scared, so anxious, so incredibly out of my element, you know, we get back to the hotel...uh, the motel - you know, nice honeymoon suite and that - and I...I couldn't consummate the marriage, mate! I was freaked!

A: Really?

S: Yeah. I sat there and ate a steak instead.

LAUGHTER

S: But it didn't take long after that though.

A: I could make a terrible reference to T-bones, but I'm not going to. You actually, for your honeymoon - correct me if I'm wrong - you ended up in the mangrove swamps in Far North Queensland with a four-man camera crew.

S: Our first two documentaries was our honeymoon with a film crew. How's that? Amazing. And that gives you an idea...

A: Difficult is how it is, I would've thought.

S: Bloody oath, mate! Imagine - we're just married, so I'd got over the nerves thing, you've got this hot-looking sheila and you haven't had it... I haven't had it... You know? So nonetheless... And here's this film crew, and you want to, 'cause it's your wife and that, and you can't. Nonetheless, I worked it out. We had a faster boat. So I'm like... Yeah. Just kind of, brrrrrrr! (Pretends to drive motorboat) "We'll meet you round the corner," you know? Yeah.

A: It was a 12-stroke?

S: (Laughs) The V12!

A: You talk about...

S: V12.

A: You talk about your daughter, Bindi.

S: Yeah.

A: What's your philosophy of fatherhood?

S: Um...my philosophy of fatherhood? You know, I just treat her exactly the same way as I would want to be treated. And, you know, the funny thing is, Andy, I treat my wildlife the same, you know? Like, if there was a croc there, I'd treat that croc like I'd treat my daughter, like I'd treat you, like I'd treat my wife, like I'd treat anyone. I treat things how I, in turn, would want to be treated. So my little kid, I just treat her how I want to be treated. You know how... My mum said, "You can't have ice-cream for breakfast." (Pretends to hand bowl to daughter) "Here, sweetheart, have it."

AUDIENCE GIGGLES

S: "Go hard." And, you know... Yeah. Absolutely. "You want to catch that snake? Sure, it's venomous, but we'll do it and I'll show you how," and we did it.

A: You have animals in the house, don't you?

S: Oh, yeah. My word.

A: She came close to a carpet snake once.

S: Yeah, bit her right on the face. Her first snakebite.

A: Oh, that must have been a proud moment.

S: It was a very proud moment. She's a snake... She's a snake maniac. My kid...my daughter's a snake freak. She loves snakes. Her favourite animal - the snake. You know, born and raised with snakes. So here's this carpet python coming across the road at night - we were going out to Poppy's house, and she's like, "Oh, Daddy, Daddy," you know. I said, "Yeah, don't worry, sweetheart. I'll save it." So I run out and grab the snake and she starts whingeing - "I want the snake!" "Alright, sweetheart, but watch out, he's a bit bitey." She grabs it and she starts singing, "Rock-a-bye, baby," like this. It goes whack! Bites her right on the lip. And she's like... (Almost whimpers) I said, "I told you he would bite you." She's like, "It's OK, Dad. Rock-a-bye..." Whack! Right on the nose. She goes, "Let it go, Dad." Gave it back to me. There's blood all pouring down there. I was very proud of her.

LAUGHTER AND APPLAUSE

A: Is she...? Because you were raised to have no fear of animals - and it seems to me you naturally didn't - is Bindi the same? Is she going to be the same?

S: I reckon she's, um...she's a bit smarter than I was. In fact, I'd say she's a lot smarter than I was. I think the whole, girl thing... You know, this whole girl-boy thing... I don't know what it's like having a boy, but they don't seem incredibly intelligent till they reach 30. Really, I wasn't all that intelligent till I reached 30. Um, Bindi, I see, is a lot more clever and calculated before she actually jumps in. She'll...unlike me, when I was, say, five years of age, she'd anticipate - "Head, tail, body. Dad's there, he'll take the head. I'll get this bit." Whereas me, I just... "Ahhh!" ..just would have jumped in there. So I think she's a little more clever and calculated than I ever was at that age.

A: Terry's, uh, due your second child in December.

S: Yeah.

A: Congratulations.

S: Thanks, mate. Thanks very much.

A: How important or... How important would it be for you to have a boy?

S: Well, that's what we were shooting for. Um...

LAUGHTER

S: We, uh... And we did it all right! I mean, Terry met the sheila in Melbourne that's got a high success rate and she's got this formula that you got to get a boy. So Terry had to go on this very special diet - you know, high salt, no dairy - and Terry loves her dairy products - no dairy and, um...and I had to have these special techniques too. And now that she's pregnant, thank goodness I'm over them. Like, no underpants. Fair dink... 'Cause you've got to get airflow round your testicles, see?

LAUGHTER

S: Well...no, seriously though, when you look at athletes, you know, 'cause their testicles are always hot, that they throw girl babies. Apparently the warm sperm are girl sperm...

A: Really?

S: Yeah. And the cool ones are boy sperm. You've gotta keep your testicles... 'Cause I run pretty hot anyway. And, so, um, yeah. Plenty of airflow there. Keep your testicles...

A: This is getting into the realm of too much information right now.

S: Sorry, mate, you asked me the question, so... But seriously we went... And you know the Chinese birth chart? Threw that in, you know.

A: What's that?

S: I don't know, some Chinese birth chart thing that Terry was following. Heaven forbid! I don't know anything about it. All I know is I had to go without underpants for a bloody...a year, and I go to areas where things bite you down there, mate! Imagine - you're sitting in the mangroves like this. (Mimics mosquito) Bzzzzz! "Oh!" You know, it was like... Underpants - in my line of work, seriously - good-fitting underpants are very, very important. Very important.

A: So, clearly, going through all this, having a boy was what...

S: It was our priority. It was our priority, but now that she's pregnant, she's big... Um... She's big. You know, I mean, pregnancy, really, she's into it. She's not like the Hollywood, you know, little bump thing, she's...she's...she's... I don't know how you say it, but she's bloody big.

LAUGHTER

S: And, um... Sorry, sweetheart. But, um, we really, really wanted to have a boy, but now, you know, going through the ultrasound and all that, we've said to the obstetrician, "Look, don't tell us. We don't want to know," because it doesn't matter. It's not like we can throw it back. It's not like we're not going to keep it. And, um, lo and behold, Bindi wants a sister anyway. So Bindi, you know, she really wants a sister. The reason being, every single night of her life, even when we're up in Cape York Peninsula, just had a big day catching crocs... We sleep together, myself and my daughter, you know, always that's the last thing at night. We sit there and she wants to hear a 'Daddy story', and it always has to be, um..."What do you want to hear, sweetheart?" "I want a Daddy story." "OK." "I want it when you were a naughty boy." Like, I've got a thousand of those...or more! And, um, and so I've told her all these naughty-boy stories, so there's no way she wants a brother. 'Cause my sisters also tell Bindi how I was a pretty hectic sort of a brother to have - really heavy, really hectic.

A: Is that right? Were you?

S: It's true.

A: I just imagine you as this quiet, quiet kid.

S: Passive, mousy sort of a bloke? Nup.

A: What do you... What do you and Terry fight about? 'Cause all couples fight.

S: Yeah, we do. Yeah, oh, mate. The worst one we had was a bonzer. I said, "What is it? What are you so grumpy about? What do you hate about me?" She's like, "Oh, I can't believe you just take your shirts off, and throw them in the wash. Why don't you undo your buttons like a normal person?"

LAUGHTER

S: The buttons on my shirt! I mean, who cares?

LAUGHTER

S: Who cares? So that was the worst one we had. That was like... I couldn't believe it.

A: A lot of people see you as this... this larger than life Steve Irwin, in some ways a one-dimensional, almost cartoon character. But what they, perhaps, don't know is you've bought huge tracts of land in Australia, Vanuatu, Fiji, US. Why have you done that?

S: I'm a conservationist through and through, Andrew. That's, er...that's why I was put on this planet, um, for the benefit of wildlife and wilderness areas. That's what I'm into. That's what makes me pumped, mate. That's what myself and Terry and our families have been all about.

A: So what's this land for?

S: Um, it's like national parks, mate.

S: We... You know, easily the greatest threat to the wildlife globally is the destruction and annihilation of habitat. So I've gone, "Right, well, how do I fix that? Well, making a quid here. People are keen to give me money over there. I'll buy it. I'll buy habitat." And I reckon the only thing wrong... Now, how's this? The only thing wrong with, you know, wildlife in Australia is that I don't own it. I could... Imagine how many kangaroos and crocodiles I could have if I owned Australia? It's, um... My wife is an American so she's got this, er... She's, um...you know, she's a good capitalist. And, er, she's very clever with money. Me, I'm not that clever and I don't really give a rip, but, er, she is. And, um, so whenever we get a...a, um...enough cash and enough...and a...and a chunk of land that we're passionate about, bang, we buy it. And what we're trying to do is we're trying to set an example to the world that, um, every single person can make a difference. Particularly those in the, um, in the political arena, um, those that have zoological facilities, any, you know, multinationals, any millionaires. They can all make a difference by buying chunks of land. And, in addition to that, every single person - man, woman and child, no matter what walk of life you're in, whether you're a, um, a fisherman, a janitor, um, Steve Irwin, the Croc Hunter - you can make a difference in wildlife by simply not purchasing wildlife products. Because today, Andrew, the wildlife perpetrators, they're hard to spot, mate. But what it is, these wildlife perpetrators now kill animals and call it 'sustainable use'. That, "Oh, let's kill crocs, turn them into belts and that's sustainable," you know? That isn't sustainable. Since when has killing wildlife saved anything? So, I'm a wildlife warrior through and through. And buying land means: A. that we're going to be able to get animals back if, and or when they become highly endangered; and B. getting out into the world, taking you, the audience, with me, having an adventure, and making it exciting. Otherwise, you're stuck with the demographics that, say, David Attenborough's got which is a bit smaller than what I got. And changing people's opinions on wildlife. How's this? For the first time in history, mate, I've just been involved with an issue where people were worried about the welfare of a shark. How's that? For the first time in history. Yay!

APPLAUSE

Astounding. Absolutely astounding. A tiger shark. And, um, admittedly the tiger shark was doing great. But her name was Bonnie...Bonnie. She was 14 foot. You know, I helped capture her and release her back into the wild. The first time in history! People are seeing crocodiles and snakes as...as animals that have welfare issues, which is fantastic. So I believe if I can secure enough habitat, then there will always be places for the animals to go when they've been annihilated throughout their habitat. Because, basically, mate, the human population is going off. It's just a bit too rapid for the old Mother Earth to keep up with, mate. And, um, so this is my way of helping her out.

A: You've got an extraordinary reach. I mentioned in the introduction an audience of about 200 million people. I don't think people in Australia have any concept of how big you are in America. You have bodyguards.

S: Yeah.

A: You have dummy helicopter decoys.

S: Yeah.

A: Just how mad does it get for you over there?

S: Oh! (Splutters) It's chaotic! It is bizarre. I...I get off the plane and there's...there's some way that they've got into the computer...cyberspace and worked, you know, "He's coming in." They'll know I'm coming into Australia and...and they're waiting for me there. So, you know, that's where the...this, um...this spearhead of, um, police, bodyguards and stuff starts, from the moment I get off the plane. And then they'll follow the limo so the limo has to do tactical stuff. We've even had to call the police to give us a hand. I got holed-up in a, um...in a hotel, you know, not game to go downstairs, you know, because radical fans down there. I think the downside of being really, really good in this, um, this thing we call the media, as you are, is fame. That's the downside. Correct me if I'm wrong, Andrew, but, crikey, sometimes you'd just like to be Andrew Denton, go buy your newspaper and your milk, not have to worry about someone coming up, "Can I have your autograph? Can I have this?" You know, and...and worrying about...

A: I've never...I've never had that happen to me...Steve, but, you know, it's fine for some, it's fine for some.

S: Sorry, mate.

A: No, it's alright. No, it's not...it's not an issue. Not an issue. We'll move on. Earlier in the year, I interviewed The Wiggles and they talked about their De Niro moment - performing on stage in America and looking down and there was Robert De Niro in the audience. And they were like, "I can't believe this is happening." Do you have a De Niro moment where you've just gone, "I can't believe I'm here. I can't believe it's happening"?

S: Plenty of times. All the time. It seems every week, every month, every day there's another De Niro moment. Um...

LAUGHTER

S: It...it's the weirdest thing being me, mate. Like, um, I guess because I'm the, um...the thing that the Hollywood megastars watch. You know, I...I've...um, I just can't believe it, you know. I can't believe I'm having these De Niro moments, you know. Like, I got invited to the President's...President, um...Bill Clinton's, um, farewell dinner and...

A: Yeah?

S: Oh, yeah, mate, yeah. Didn't go. Busy that day, um...

A: You didn't go?

S: Nah.

A: Why didn't you go?

S: I'm not into it. I'm just not into it. The whole...that whole thing just doesn't interest me. I'm really, arrrgh, not, kind of, all that keen.

A: The...your manager, who you referred to, John Stainton...

S: Johnny, yeah.

A: ..said...said that - because you're much bigger in America than in Australia - said he doesn't think that Australians know how to watch you. That some of them feel embarrassed.

S: Mmm.

A: Do you reckon that's a fair call?

S: Yeah, I do. I do. Absolutely. I'm very embarrassing to look at. You know why? Here's why I'm embarrassing. Because there's a little bit of me in everybody. There really is, you know? I'm like the boy that never grew up. Um, I'm very, very passionate about what I do. I mean, I love what I do. I'm so... I wake up in the morning on fire. And people are like, "God, give this guy a Valium or something," you know? "Can't he have a bad day?" And...and I'm not. And I'm not. And I guess people...especially Australians, you know, they're so "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Stevo. Yeah, yeah, whatever," you know? You know, Australians are like that. They're very "Yeah, take it or leave it, whatever" type thing. "No, he's too hypo. Bloke's on fire," you know? Yeah, so I guess, um, that little bit of me in everybody kind of must be embarrassing, yeah.

A: I've gotta say, passion's a pretty impressive thing.

S: It is, mate.

A: Steve Irwin, thanks for coming in.

S: Thank you, mate.

AUDIENCE CHEERS WILDLY

S: Whoo!

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