Meet the granny labelled an ‘extremist’ by Premier Malinauskas
A 78-year-old granny with a walking frame, arrested for trespassing while protesting the controversial North Adelaide Golf Course development, has a stern message for the Premier.
Seventy-eight-year-old granny Mij Tanith, who was arrested and charged with trespass after entering the North Adelaide Golf Course site during a protest, said she was “gutted” to see the “destruction” of trees and wildlife for its redevelopment.
Protesters have been angered by 585 trees being felled for the $45 million golf course redevelopment on the Adelaide Park Lands in North Adelaide, with some of those opposed holding another protest over the weekend. A petition objecting to the plan has now amassed 47,468 signatures.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said that three trees would be planted for every mature-aged tree felled in Possum Park, but Tanith, who was recognised as the City of Adelaide’s Citizen of the Year in 2025 for her refugee advocacy, had a blunt message for Malinauskas after he labelled arrested protesters “a ragtag group of extremists”.
“Who… are you calling a ragtag extremist?” Tanith, who recently authored the book Laila’s Story about an Afghan refugee, said.
“I’m pretty conservative in that I actively work for the conservation of our green spaces.”
Tanith said it was a spur-of-the-moment decision when she and “a number of other nannies with their walkers” entered the North Adelaide golf course site.
You might like
“I did it because of that spur-of-the-moment opportunity. I wanted to lay my body on the line for this cause because that’s how strongly I feel about it,” Tanith, who was arrested and later charged with trespass, said.
Tanith will appear before the court on July 3 and has been banned from going near the North Adelaide golf course until that date.
Yesterday, Malinauskas responded to escalating action over the redevelopment, saying some of the “extreme” park lands protesters were engaging in conduct that was un-Australian after a Facebook post threatened to leak his home address.
Eight people were arrested last Friday protesting the felling of trees, including a 27-year-old woman who chained herself to the work site entrance on War Memorial Drive.
Asked about the feeling of seeing trees torn down, Tanith breaks down in tears, saying, “I’m gutted”.
“It’s so unnecessary – it tears at my heart, and it tears at the heart of anyone,” she said.
Stay informed, daily
“I’m objecting passionately to what’s going on in Possum Park, but I’m also really aware of the eroding of democracy with this Malinauskas government – he’s not listening to the people; he’s catering to the sports fans and the elite.
“So, I would say that far from the protesters being the extremists, I think Malinauskas himself is the most extreme player in this whole sad, sorry saga.”
She objected specifically to the North Adelaide Golf Course Act, which exempted the development from the planning act when removing significant trees, as well as what she thought was a lack of consultation.
The government has said it took the redevelopment plan to the state election and received a mandate from the people of South Australia when it was voted back into power.
Tanith said it was “just another in a series of park land grabs by the Malinauskas government”, taking objection to the “destruction” of park land trees and wildlife and government spin.
“The spin on this development is just breathtaking. Malinauskas says, ‘We’re looking very carefully about relocating the possums’. Possums are territorial. If you break up their homes, they’re just not going to cope with being relocated,” she said.
Asked about protesters on ABC Radio this morning, Malinauskas said: “That’s a sign of a healthy, liberal democracy” and that the park lands were “for the people of South Australia for public use and recreation”, adding that the state government was investing in creating a better golf course for the state.
“You just hope that people act with civility, and I think the overwhelming majority of people who’ve been protesting around the golf course upgrade have acted civilly and exercised their democratic rights entirely appropriately in many respects,” he said.
“I think there have been a handful who have gone way too far, and I think that’s unfortunate for everybody.”
A spokesperson for the Premier declined to comment further when contacted by InDaily.
Want to see more stories from InDaily SA in your Google search results?
- Click here to set InDaily SA as a preferred source.
- Tick the box next to "InDaily SA". That's it.
