A rare video of wildlife warrior Steve Irwin has re-surfaced which he made to help an n cop establish himself as one of the world’s top child protection experts.
Queensland police officer Jon Rouse, who retired in 2022, had been asked to speak at an INTERPOL Specialists Group forum in Lyon, France in 2005.
To help with the ‘daunting’ speech in front of the large group of highly experienced officers from around the world, he asked his mate The Crocodile Hunter, who at that point was at the peak of his fame, to film a short video.
Mr Rouse said the group did not know who he was and he figured a good way to set the tone for his speech would be to have someone introduce him.
‘I was fortunate enough to know Steve Irwin and I reached out to his manager and Steve put together a clip,’ Mr Rouse told Gary Jubelin’s ‘I Catch Killers’ podcast.
Rare footage of Croc Hunter Steve Irwin has surfaced that was filmed as a favour for a mate
Steve and Teri Irwin found worldwide fame through their wildlife documentaries and conservation work
The clip shows Irwin dressed in his khakis out the front of Zoo delivering lines in the same familiar enthusiastic style he did on his television shows.
‘Me, I deal with predators, big apex predators,’ Irwin said.
‘And those predators need my help, unlike the predators you have to deal with who need to be stamped out.
‘As a parent, and on behalf of all the parents of the world, we’d like to say thank you very much.
‘It’s a very serious, a very heavy subject you’re working on, but by crikey we sure appreciate that you’re doing that.
‘So without further ado I’d like to introduce to you a really good mate of mine, a fair dinkum Aussie bloke, Jon from the Queensland Police Service, which is in my backyard.
‘Woo-hoo, crocs rule mate!’
Mr Rouse said the clip was a huge success with Irwin’s presence thawing the room and allowing him to network with global child protection experts after his speech.
Highly decorated police officer Jon Rouse used the clip from Irwin to help him network with child protection experts at an international forum
‘That brought me into a community that taught me a lot. It taught me about victim identification. The importance of sharing assault cases. I learned so much from that group.
‘I went to my last meeting in March. I was the chair of the undercover group at INTERPOL when I retired. So I went to that meeting for 18 years.’
Mr Rouse is recognised as one of ‘s leading authorities in preventing child abuse and played an important role in outlawing child exploitation material.
He forged crucial links between the Queensland Police Service and international law enforcement agencies and has been awarded the Queensland Police Medal, the n Police Medal and was the Queensland n of the Year in 2019.