Vegan activist Tash Peterson, known for stripping off, may be slapped with Melbourne Cup ban
Vegan animal rights activist Tash Peterson, notorious for her attention seeking topless stunts, has addressed her potential Melbourne Cup ban in a video.
Victoria
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A vegan activist, notorious for her topless stunts, could be banned from attending the Melbourne Cup.
In a preemptive bid to avoid carnival day ruckus on Tuesday, November 1, Victoria Police intend to issue a “race course exclusion notice” to 28-year-old Tash Peterson.
Ms Peterson, originally from Bicton, WA, is an extreme animal rights activist who has marched through shopping centers smeared in her menstrual blood and performed acts of public nudity to draw attention to animal cruelty.
“If you’re not vegan, you’re an animal abuser,” is the activist’s social media slogan.
If the exclusion notice is confirmed, Ms Peterson will be denied entry on and around Flemington Racecourse for the duration of the Melbourne Cup event, said Senior Constable Natasha Leigh.
“The criteria for exclusion… is where it is considered necessary in the public interest,” Constable Leigh said.
In June this year, WA police banned Ms Petereson from all licensed premises in the state, prompting the activist to move to Melbourne.
According to a video posted by Ms Peterson on social media, the exclusion notice gives her an opportunity to object.
“In this letter, I am giving you notice I am considering whether or not to make an order under section 33(1) of the Racing Act prohibiting you from entering and remaining at all specified Victorian racecourses for the duration of a race meeting conducted at those racecourses,” the notice reads.
“The purpose of this letter is to afford you the opportunity to make submissions in response to this proposed order, should you wish to do so.”
The letter contended Ms Peterson would pose a “threat to the safety of riders, horses and the public” if allowed to attend racing events.
“I will take any submissions into account before making a decision,’ it said.
With a long and colourful history of confronting activist stunts, Ms Peterson maintained in the video her actions were to draw attention to animal abuse.
“If you’re not a vegan, you’re an animal abuser,” her Instagram bio reads.
The exclusion notice referenced Ms Peterson’s previously expressed intentions to behave in a “disruptive manner and break laws to target the 2022 Melbourne Cup”, including a list of her previous stunts as examples.
Ms Peterson’s past acts of activism have included allegedly attacking a group of children’s entertainers at a family festival offering pony rides, harassing customers at a KFC store with graphic animal images and fake blood, and carrying an artificial pig head through a shopping centre.
Originally published as Vegan activist Tash Peterson, known for stripping off, may be slapped with Melbourne Cup ban
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