Vegan activist Tash Peterson banned from every licensed venue in Western Australia

A controversial vegan activist, best known for storming hospitality venues and abusing patrons, has been banned from every licensed venue in Western Australia.

A controversial vegan activist, known for storming pubs and restaurants to slam patrons for their dietary choices, has been banned from every licensed venue in Western Australia.

Tash Peterson, 27, is well-known on social media for her vegan activism and is no stranger to controversy.

She gained notoriety in 2019 for accosting shoppers at Coles, dressed as a blood-soaked abattoir worker, and holding a fake dead chicken under her arm.

She also blasted sounds from animals, reportedly recorded in slaughter houses, and held a sign that read “Coles/Woolworths - Tell them the truth”.

But her latest stunt - which involved her storming the Bathers Beach seafood restaurant in Fremantle in March to tell diners they were participating in the “fish holocaust” - was what saw her banned from all licensed venues.

RELATED: Wild scenes as protester storms seafood restaurant

Vegan activist Tash Peterson at Bathers. Picture: Instagram

Taking to Instagram, Ms Peterson said police hand-delivered the ban at her Perth home.

“The police came to my house this morning to serve a barring notice (Liquor licenced premises ban) upon me for a sea life @seaspiracy protest that I did last month highlighting the sea life holocaust caused by the fishing industry,” she wrote.

“This is a clear example of how so called freedom of speech is not actually freedom of speech at all.”

Speaking in the video, Ms Peterson said she was no longer allowed to enter anywhere that sells liquor - including bottle shops, nightclubs and bottle shops.

If she does attempt to enter any of those premises, she will be charged with trespassing and face a $10,000 fine.

Vegan activist Tash Peterson. Picture: Instagram

Ms Peterson said the barring notice had little impact on her, because she was planning on leaving Western Australia.

“Guess what WA, I’m getting the f**k out of here anyway, so I can continue to do my protesting in other states in places that sell alcohol because this ban only applies in Western Australia,” she said.

Ms Peterson said the barring notice was being used to “silence activists” and she was planning on appealing it, despite her plans to leave.

“I’m probably going to be over east in one month’s time and I’m flying out on Monday so I’m not sure if I’ll have time to appeal it,” she said.

The 27-year-old said things like barring notices and fines encouraged her to continue protesting.

“It’s insane the number of places that I’ve been banned form and the charges I’ve received for trying to create awareness about an animal holocaust ... things like this are not going to stop me and it’s only going to fuel my fire to continue protesting,” she said.

Ms Peterson defended her protest at Bathers in May, arguing media coverage of her stunt made it a success.

“Would the media attention my protests receive exist if I stood outside of a business and did a more peaceful speech? No,” she said, following criticism of her speech.

“Would this article exist if I didn’t cause some chaos and disrupt? No.

“Would this article exist if I decided to start some conversations and educate people about the animal holocaust? No.

“My protests aim on reaching an audience via media attention, not to reach people in that moment. You can reach thousands, if not millions more people via disruptive protesting rather than having a conversation with ten or so people.

“This is how social change is created. This is how gay rights went from a criminal offence to a constitutional right. This is how women went from having no voting rights to being able to vote. They all disrupted. They were highly criticised and disliked by the majority. But within a short period of time – the majority supported their rights and unjust laws were changed.

“Disruption is the greatest weapon of social change. It is essential to disrupt if we want the world to listen and talk about animal rights, and it is vital to the movement’s success.”

Originally published as Vegan activist Tash Peterson banned from every licensed venue in Western Australia