Australians petition to put Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin on currency
If tens of thousands of people get their way, the Crocodile Hunter could be featured on Australian currency.
Five Australian teens started a Change.org petition last week to pay respect to "the all time greatest Australian bloke." Their goal is to convince the Australian government to put Steve Irwin's face on a coin or note.
One of the petition's creators told the BBC: "We started this petition because the newer generation barely knows who is representing our currency. We believed that having a childhood icon and conservationist like Steve would be a great idea."
Current Australian banknotes feature several poets, religious officials and politicians, most of whom were born in the 1800s and died in the mid-1900s.
As of Thursday morning, the petition had over 23,000 signatures. It has gotten the attention of the Royal Australian Mint, which produced a Steve Irwin commemorative coin in 2009.
The mint's chief executive told The Telegraph: "This petition has further highlighted the passion throughout a sub-section of the Australian community to recognize Mr Irwin, and we invite those who are leading the cause to ... submit a written proposal to us directly for consideration."
The petition was started just days after the 10th anniversary of Irwin's death. He was killed after a giant stringray stabbed him in the heart while he was filming an underwater documentary.
