Tree protester warned not to reoffend says she would 'absolutely' do it again

An elderly activist and author has not ruled out being arrested again for protesting against the felling of trees in the Adelaide Park Lands, despite a warning from a magistrate she could face a conviction next time.

Mij Tanith, 78, pleaded guilty in the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday to a charge of being unlawfully on premises while protesting the felling of almost 600 trees at the North Adelaide Golf Course on May 15.

The tree felling largely concluded a week later.

Tanith was supported by dozens of fellow activists both inside and outside the court.

Magistrate Ben Sale said he would not record a conviction against Tanith, nor impose a fine, after taking into consideration her previous good behaviour and the 90 minutes she spent in custody after being arrested.

However, he did order she pay court fees and warned her that she may be convicted of the crime if she were to commit it again.

"To have the leniency of having no conviction recorded, the court has to be of the view that you are unlikely to do this offence again," Magistrate Sale said.

"That would mean that if it was repeated, this sort of offending, you might well have a criminal conviction recorded.

"That may make all sorts of things difficult for you, including things like travelling to certain countries.

"Breaches of the criminal law are not condoned by the court, whatever the reason, no matter how noble the person thinks their cause is."

Another arrest 'worth it'

Despite the warning, Tanith — who is an author and playwright — said outside court that she would not rule out committing the crime again.

"I'm not going to say I'm not going to do it again, if it comes to that," she said.

"I feel incredibly passionate about this, probably more passionate than I can feel about anything else.

"No, I'm not ruling anything out."

When asked by members of the media if it would be "worth it", Tanith replied: "Yes, absolutely."

The 2025 Adelaide City Council citizen of the year said she was pleased with the court outcome and would now be turning her focus back to activism.

"It means I can focus on my own health at this stage and then get back into the whole swing of working towards a halt on … all of the heartbreaking destruction that's planned for that area," she said.

"We're all passionate, we're all committed.

"We've come together as a movement and the movement is growing."

The state government says more trees will be planted than removed as part of its $45 million redevelopment of the North Adelaide Golf Course.

It intends for the redeveloped course to host the Australian Open in 2028 and future LIV Golf tournaments.