Steve Irwin's son Robert just like his dad

CHIP off the old block ...
Robert Irwin and his mum Terri at the Australia Zoo breakfast.
LITTLE Robert Irwin, son of the Crocodile Hunter, single-handedly stole the show at Australia Zoo's annual VIP breakfast today. Even as his mother and zoo director Terri Irwin outlined plans for the zoo’s huge expansion and announced inaugural Wildlife Warrior awards, three-year-old Robert had the 500-plus crowd in stitches.

Joining Terri and older sister Bindi, 9, on stage, Robert at first hid behind the podium before quickly becoming bored with all the speeches.

Despite the glare of spotlights and television cameras, and with hundreds of eyes watching him, he decided to entertain himself - first by hitting his mother on the backside, playing peek-a- boo and finally spotting the direct telecast of events on a stage plasma screen.

Just as much a ham for a camera as his late fa ther, Robert spent the rest of his mother’s speech running about the stage, waving and trying to kiss the screen version of his mother and Bindi.

At one point he even decided to talk to the images to see if they would answer back, then sat on his haunches looking perplexed.

Thanking all the people who had supported the zoo in the past year, Terri said she also wanted to thank Bindi “for her poise and grace” and also Robert whom she described as “an action man … a chip off the old block”.

“It’ll be the kids giving these speeches in the years to come,” she said.