Qld councillor claims right-to-protest win

Protesters in Brisbane have landed a blow in the fight for their rights, with the city's lord mayor failing to block another traffic-stopping demonstration.

The Brisbane City Council went to court in a bid to block Wednesday's march against a crackdown on protests, organised by Greens councillor Jonathan Sri.

The council argued the Brisbane CBD protest would cause "serious public disorder" due to disruptions to peak-hour traffic.

But Chief Magistrate Terry Gardiner came down on the side of Cr Sri on Tuesday, knocking back the application.

"I'm not satisfied that the refusal of the assembly is necessary or reasonable in a democratic society, in the interest of public order," Mr Gardiner said.

Cr Sri told Brisbane Magistrates Court the council's actions were politically motivated because they disagreed with the protest, rather than being worried about traffic.

"I don't think we want to get into a situation where we say, 'negative impacts on traffic, therefore no protesting'."

Kevin Cartledge, lawyer for the council, claimed the protest's impact on the transport network would impinge on the public's freedom of movement and safety of pedestrians.

He argued those impacts outweighed the rights of the protesters, which the chief magistrate rejected.

Thousands of people have attended traffic-crippling protests in Brisbane in recent months, mostly about climate change.

In some instances protesters glued themselves to road surfaces and used steel pipes filled with concrete to lock their arms onto fences, bridges and other infrastructure.

The state government is drafting laws to outlaw what the premier has called dangerous devices used by some "extremists".

It maintains people have the right to protest but claims some pipes have been booby trapped.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has said his bid to stop the protest was not an attack on civil liberties.

"People have the right to protest, but not at the expense of the travelling public," he said.

"I refuse to let Brisbane residents fall victim to Cr Sri's extreme tactics to disrupt the daily lives of Brisbane residents."

Cr Sri has previously let activists from the climate change action group Extinction Rebellion use a meeting room at his ratepayer-funded office.

He said they were as entitled to use the space as any other community group.

Last year, he got 40 cyclists to lie down on the road outside the Queensland Children's Hospital during peak hour, in a bid to get the council to build more separated bike lanes.

It caused major traffic delays and impeded access to the hospital.