Bob Irwin: 'Steve would be proud'

Bob Irwin has revealed that his late son Steve would be proud of him.

Bob, whose 'Crocodile Hunter' son died in September 2006 after a stingray pierced his heart with its barb, was arrested recently after a protest at a coal seam gas plant in Queensland.

According to the AAP, the 71-year-old was held in custody in Chinchilla police station and later charged with ignoring police orders to remove himself from a road blockade.

Protesters were campaigning against the construction of a 16km gas pipeline that they believe could contaminate groundwater, devalue land and damage health.

Bob has accused the Queensland Gas Company of breaching a permit to clear vegetation, telling the Sydney Morning Herald: "They are allowed to clear 10m of remnant vegetation but... they have cleared 40m. If any ordinary Australian had done that, against the tree clearing laws, we'd be in jail. That's just not right."

He added that he will have to face the Chinchilla Magistrates Court next month because of "making a bloody nuisance of" himself, adding that he will "plead guilty" and "cop what comes from that".

Bob said of his son: "Steve's probably laughing right now that his old man is in a little bit of bother; he was [a] pretty mischievous fellow. But I think he'd be proud of what's being done here. He'd know as well as I do that we must fight for our land."

The conservationist revealed last year that he was upset when Steve's wife Terri and children Bindi and Robert did not visit him in hospital following his heart attack.