{"id":432291,"date":"2026-05-17T17:52:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:52:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/432291\/"},"modified":"2026-05-17T17:52:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-17T17:52:10","slug":"tributes-flow-for-australian-father-killed-in-shark-attack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/432291\/","title":{"rendered":"Tributes flow for Australian father killed in shark attack"},"content":{"rendered":"

A father-of-two killed in a confronting shark attack<\/a> is being remembered as a one-of-a-kind gentleman, while his mates have been praised for rushing into the water to bring him back to shore.<\/p>\n

The shark attack victim, identified as 38-year-old Steven “Mattas” Mattaboni, was killed while diving at Horseshoe Reef near Rottnest Island in Western Australia on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Mattaboni was pulled from the water after being bitten and was rushed by boat to a jetty at Geordie Bay on the north side of the island.<\/p>\n

Paramedics were unable to revive him.<\/p>\n

Family, friends and political leaders paid tribute to the avid fisherman on Sunday, with his AFL side Kingsley Football Club remembering the premiership player as a much-loved friend.<\/p>\n

“Mattas was one of the most genuine people you could meet,” the club said on social media.<\/p>\n

“He had a smile and presence that could light up a room, and he will be remembered fondly by all who had the privilege of knowing him.”<\/p>\n

‘A truly one-of-a-kind gentleman’<\/p>\n

Mattaboni’s wife Shirene issued a statement to media outlets remembering the fiercely loyal, endlessly generous and devoted father of two daughters \u2013 one who turns three in June and a four-month-old baby.<\/p>\n

She said the avid fisherman and spearfisherman lived and breathed the ocean and was always in tune with the sea.<\/p>\n

“The world has lost a truly one-of-a-kind gentleman, and our daughters have lost an incredible father far too soon,” she said.<\/p>\n

Police minister Reece Whitby said the incident was extremely confronting and his thoughts were with Mattaboni’s loved ones.<\/p>\n

“He was someone who loved the ocean and loved diving, and it’s just incredibly tragic,” he told reporters.<\/p>\n

Whitby praised first responders, emergency crews and staff who worked to save Mattaboni.<\/p>\n

“I want to acknowledge the diver’s friends who played a critical role in doing the best they could to bring the young diver back to shore,” he said.<\/p>\n

A 5m white shark was spotted 80m offshore about the time of the attack, according to Surf Life Saving WA.<\/p>\n

Rottnest Island, which is 11km long and 4.5km wide, is a popular tourist stopover 19km off the coast of Fremantle.<\/p>\n

Despite the tragedy, Whitby said the destination would continue to be an attraction for tourists.<\/p>\n

“People are aware of issues in terms of personal safety when you are at sea that sharks are there,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mattaboni’s death comes after a spate of fatal shark attacks in Australian waterways.<\/p>\n

Schoolboy Nico Antic, 13, died a week after being bitten on his legs near a popular swimming spot at Vaucluse, in Sydney’s east, in January.<\/p>\n

Swiss tourist Livia Mulheim, 25, was killed by a shark in November while swimming at a Kylies Beach on the NSW mid-north coast.<\/p>\n

Surfer Mercury Psillakis, 57, was fatally bitten by a shark at Sydney’s Long Reef beach in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A father-of-two killed in a confronting shark attack is being remembered as a one-of-a-kind gentleman, while his mates…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[85,42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-432291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-australia","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}