Most extreme Extinction Rebellion disruptions across Melbourne
From gluing hands to paintings to laying down in front of traffic, environmental activists have disrupted Melbourne in many ways. Here are some of the most bizarre.
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From gluing their hands to paintings to laying down in front of traffic, environmental activists have disrupted Melbourne in many bizarre and disturbing ways.
Working off the rationale of a “moral duty to rebel” – according to Extinction Rebellion – protesters typically seek to disrupt day-to-day life to draw attention to the climate crisis, animal cruelty or other environmental pursuits.
Such unorthodox methods of protest have garnered international criticism for their outlandishness, with many considering the protesters selfish and out-of-touch for disrupting people’s everyday lives.
Yet, disruption is the exact goal: cause chaos to make people notice their message.
Here are some of the craziest environmental stunts pulled by activists.
Hands glued to a Picasso painting at the National Gallery of Victoria
In October 2022, two activists from Extinction Rebellion glued their hands to a prized painting by Pablo Picasso using superglue.
Timed ahead of the state election, the protesters attached themselves to the 1951 painting “Massacre in Korea” and said they chose the anti-war artwork to plead governments, corporations and institutes to act against the global environmental crisis.
The painting was protected by a sheet of perspex and was therefore unharmed, which the protesters knew beforehand.
Once they glued themselves to the painting, the pair yelled “stop coal, stop gas, stop oil, stop logging”.
A gallery conservator eventually removed their hands from the painting using acetone.
Naked vegan protesters on Bourke St
Protesting animal cruelty, three fervent vegan activists – including notorious protester Tash Peterson – walked through Melbourne in July 2022 wearing flesh-coloured underwear and exposing their breasts, dripped with fake blood.
One protester carried a fake bloodied lamb as a prop and the others carried signs reading “wool is as cruel as fur” and “wool hurts”.
Ms Peterson is no stranger to the spotlight, having made a name for herself in the west through her trademark semi-nude demonstrations as well as altercations with butchers and steakhouse patrons.
She was slapped with a $3500 fine in the Perth Magistrates’ Court in April for marching through a Louis Vuitton store smeared in her own menstrual blood.
Her Instagram profile, which boasts more than 16k followers, includes a bio which reads “if you’re not vegan, you’re an animal abuser”.
Protesters wrapped themselves up in pretend ‘meat trays’ for animal rights
Activists with People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals (PETA) crashed Sydney’s busy Pitt Street Mall to protest animal rights, lying down inside human-sized “meat trays” to shock passers-by.
The protesters wore fake blood-splattered suits and lay behind sheets of plastic with “flesh” labelled on the pretend package.
PETA said at the time their shocking display was intended to remind the public all animals are made of the same body parts, and remind the public of the connection between humanity and animals.
Blocked a major freeway during peak hour
Another stunt from Extinction Rebellion, this protest saw a van block traffic on the busy Kings Way inbound exit ramp from the West Gate Freeway in May 2023.
Striking during morning peak hour, the protest only lasted about 15 minutes before police intervened – but still caused delays in excess of 45 minutes.
The involved protesters decorated the van in posters with environmental and alarmist slogans including “the science is clear” and “we are not safe”.
Three people were arrested.
Strapped to a train
Like a scene straight out of Mission Impossible, a climate-change activist climbed aboard a cargo train earlier in the year bringing it to a halt on its way to Port Melbourne.
Interrupting operations at Melbourne’s biggest port was exactly what 62-year-old Jacinta Walsh wanted to achieve.
Walsh started a Facebook live stream while on top of the train saying “I fight for humanity, I fight for all species”.
The grandmother was protesting the impact fossil fuels have on the environment and also unfurled a banner reading “We change everything, or we lose everything”.
Kudos to Walsh for being 62 and managing to climb to the top of a cargo train which is no mean feat.
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