SYDNEY, Australia (CNN) -- Comments by academic Germaine Greer on the death of wildlife TV star Steve Irwin have triggered a storm of anger with the Australian author criticized for being "insensitive" and "elitist."
Greer, best known for her feminist book "The Female Eunuch", said Wednesday Irwin was an "embarrassment" and a "self-deluded animal torturer."
Irwin, who gained international fame for his "Crocodile Hunter" TV series, was killed Monday by a stingray barb while filming a wildlife documentary.
Speaking on Australian TV Channel Nine's "A Current Affair" news program Wednesday, Greer described those who mourned Irwin's passing as "idiots" and said possibly millions of Australians were embarrassed by him.
Greer said Irwin had not treated animals with the respect they deserved.
"He would tell you how dangerous they were and he would proceed to intrude on their space and humiliate (them) really -- treat them with massive insensitivity," she said. "It's no surprise he came to grief."
Greer's views, first aired in Britain's Guardian newspaper on Tuesday, have drawn a sharp response in Australia from politicians and commentators.
Queensland state leader Peter Beattie told Greer to "back off" and labeled her comments "stupid" and "insensitive."
"Germaine Greer is just wrong and I just can't imagine anyone being more insensitive and, frankly, stupid," he said Thursday.
"This argument is just extreme radical rubbish from Germaine Greer and it couldn't come at a more insensitive time.
"Any suggestion that he (Irwin) mistreated animals is just rubbish ... he educated a generation."
Author John Birmingham, writing in The Australian newspaper Thursday, called Greer's comments "a poisonous discharge of bile" which encapsulated the views of a "whole class of Australian sophisticates" who felt uncomfortable with Irwin's global celebrity.
Greer is a frequent critic of personalities like British soccer star David Beckham and social trends like reality television, although she herself appeared briefly in Britain's Celebrity Big Brother series.
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