A vegan activist has shocked Australia Day crowds by lecturing Bunnings Warehouse customers about eating meat at a barbecue raising money for firefighters.

Perth animal rights activist Tash Peterson took to the hardware store holding a blood-splattered Australian flag and a sign that read: 'Australia, the blood is on your hands.'

The Bunnings charity sausage sizzle was being run by firefighters on the two-year anniversary of the Black Summer of 2019 - a period of brutal fires across the nation that ripped through 18.6million hectares and killed 34 people.

Footage of Ms Peterson's protest was shared to her 10,000 Instagram followers, as well as on YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.

'They're firefighters, you should have a little bit of respect,' the woman said to Ms Peterson in a heated confrontation in the clip.

'I wish they sold bacon,' she joked before storming off to cheers from onlookers.

Ms Peterson then addressed the firefighters at the grill to say that although they are raising money for 'a really good cause' she wanted them to understand that 'animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change.'

Many of the firefighters ignored Ms Peterson as confused customers watched on.

One firefighter asked the activist: 'Have you ever been on a fire field having flames come at you, where your risking your life to help people?'

While some vegans praised the demonstration online, calling Ms Peterson a 'strong, unapologetic voice for animals', others were unsure.

One person wrote: 'I am vegan myself but it's these kinds of vegans that I can't stand. It makes all of us look bad when most of us aren't like this.'

One patriotic Aussie took offence to the protest, writing: 'Now this is personal. Vegan attacking a great Aussie tradition of Bunnings snags.'

It's not the first time the vegan activist has attracted controversy.

In December she protested outside a butcher wearing blood splattered clothes and holding a pig's head while she recited a speech about the way pigs are killed in abattoirs.

In the same month a woman intervened when the activist stood topless wearing body paint and a cow onesie outside an Italian restaurant in Fremantle, and admonished Ms Peterson for protesting in front of her children.

She has also been fined $1800 for trespassing at Perth's Optus Stadium after running onto the pitch during the first-ever AFL Women's Western Derby, holding a black flag that read 'right to rescue'.

Ms Peterson has also dressed in bloodied aprons and protested in McDonald's and Coles, at times carrying a fake slaughtered pig head.

Source: Daily Mail

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