A Bob Brown Foundation activist has been arrested during a theatrical protest at Salamanca Market, where members staged a mock “endangered species banquet” featuring politicians and logging executives.
Dr Colette Harmsen was charged after refusing to leave the demonstration, where she was portraying Premier Jeremy Rockliff at the satirical feast.
The Forest Resistance Tour protest featured performers acting as political and industry figures supposedly eating endangered species killed through native forest logging.
Tasmania Police attended the scene around 10:45am following complaints the demonstration was blocking pedestrian access to market stalls.
“After determining there was no permit to conduct the protest, Tasmania Police directed the group to leave the area,” a police spokesperson said.
“One person failed to comply with police direction, and was arrested at the scene without incident.”
Harmsen, a 50-year-old from southern Tasmania, has been charged with failing to comply with police direction and refusing to provide her name and address.
She has been bailed to appear in court on June 1, 2026.
The activist defended the group’s confrontational tactics, saying they were necessary to highlight government inaction on wildlife protection.
“Before you criticise us for the way we expose political inaction and government and industry complicity in the ecological and extinction crisis, please question the decisions our politicians make to support the native forest logging industry,” Harmsen said.
“Native forest logging continues to kill endangered species with no repercussions. Our wildlife deserves better.”
She called for an immediate end to native forest logging, saying the industry causes “the death of countless endangered wildlife”.
The protest comes a day after revelations the Bob Brown Foundation had attempted to censor news coverage of its protests after public commentary turned against them.
