Andrew Denton: 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?
Steve Irwin: 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.
Andrew Denton: So what’s this land for?
Steve Irwin: Um, it’s like national parks, mate.
Steve Irwin: 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.
