COLOURFUL Fremantle protester Simon Peterffy is retiring from frontline activism after 25 years of jumping on whaling ships, de-baiting drum lines, chaining himself to logging machinery, and sending rancid butter to his adversaries.

Mr Peterffy says despite the retirement, he’ll continue mentoring younger protestors at The Lorax, which is a corner of FERN named after the Dr Seuss character who “speaks for the trees”.

“It’s time for me to pass the baton on”, Mr Peterffy says.

His militant activism has led to several run-ins with the law, the most recent landing him a sentence at the Perth Magistrate’s Court this Wednesday.

• Fremantle activist Simon Peterffy with his hands in a lock-on device, which might soon be illegal under restrictive WA laws. Photo by Trilokesh Chanmugam

He pled guilty and was fined $2400 for two instances of interfering with drum-lines during a protest against the Barnett government’s shark cull.

On one occasion a small group of the activists painted themselves blue, pulled a drum-line from the sea near Cottesloe beach, and theatrically posed with it amongst artworks in the 2014 Sculptures by the Sea exhibition.

Mr Peterffy was also charged $2094 in costs, bringing the bill to roughly $4500, which will be paid through Lorax fundraisers and a GoFundMe account.

The Lorax philosophy is that direct action is more effective than opinion campaigns.

“Instead of holding a placard saying ‘we don’t like that’, we go in and say ‘where’s the handbrake’,” Mr Peterffy says.

“We don’t believe in petitions or cake stalls or just getting the message out there; a primary focus of our organisations is direct interventions,” he told Three Gates Media.

by TRILOKESH CHANMUGAM