Giant G20 joint banned from summit
Plans to pass around a giant joint at the G20 in Brisbane have been nipped in the bud by security officials.
The HEMP Embassy, from the notoriously pro-marijuana NSW town of Nimbin, has been told its 10-metre high model joint, intended as a protest prop, is too big to take into G20 zones in South Brisbane and the city.
However, they have won a reprieve after police advised smaller, inflatable joints would be allowed.
"They're great, they're miniature replicas," HEMP Embassy President Michael Balderstone told AAP.
"If we can get in with them, it'll look good."
The embassy has notified police there will be "no more than 10 people" at a protest demanding that medical marijuana be placed on the G20 agenda.
"Cannabis is the biggest cash crop on earth according to UN figures, $300 billion per year," Mr Balderstone said.
"America has finally seen the light and is re-legalising, so why is it not on the G20 Economic Forum agenda?"
The move would create 10,000 jobs within Australia through a legal, regulated and taxed cannabis market, Mr Balderstone said.
"We wrote to Mr Abbot asking for medical cannabis to be included, but I don't think he took us seriously as there was no answer."
The HEMP Embassy rally will run alongside Aboriginal protesters at Musgrave Park, in South Brisbane, on Thursday.
First security breach of G20: report
Meanwhile, security officials in Brisbane are grappling with the first major security breach ahead of the G20, with projectors, disguised as security cameras, reportedly found inside the restricted zone.
Security is tight in Brisbane ahead of the G20 summit. Photo: ABC
The projectors were going to be activated by remote control to beam anti-G20 slogans onto walls around the summit venue at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, The Courier-Mail reports.
Police had no immediate comment on the apparent breach of security.
Several of the dummy cameras were found by police this week, just days out from the start of the gathering of world leaders on Saturday, the paper said, quoting a police source.
"Our Land, Our Water, Our Future"
Indigenous groups have marched through Brisbane as the city gears up for the G20 summit.
More than 100 protesters, some draped in the Aboriginal flag, marched from Roma Street to South Brisbane's Musgrave Park on Tuesday.
Demonstrators protest in the Brisbane CBD over climate change, uranium mining, coal seam gas fracking and traditional land rights ahead of the 2014 G20 Leaders Summit. Photo: Getty
The peaceful march is part of a series of rallies planned by Brisbane Aboriginal Sovereign Embassy and Brisbane Blacks groups as world leaders begin to arrive in the city for the G20 gathering of world leaders.
Rally organiser Debbie Jones told AAP Tuesday's protest, dubbed "Our Land, Our Water, Our Future," was about environmental destruction, including the controversial process of fracking to extract coal seam gas.
Indigenous groups have marched through Brisbane as the city gears up for the G20 summit. Photo: Getty
"We are custodians of this land but we can't perform those duties because the government and the corporations are raping our land for money," she said.
"The biggest issues that are breaking our hearts are mining, particularly coal seam gas mining, the mining industry's impact on the Great Barrier Reef and uranium mining."
Indigenous protesters will hold another rally on Friday about deaths in custody.
On Monday, a large number of protesters rallied against the disproportionate number of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care in Australia.
Demonstrators protest in the Brisbane CBD over indigenous land rights ahead of the G20 Leader's Summit. Photo: Getty
Newman 'apprehensive' ahead of G20
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman admits he is apprehensive ahead of the G20 summit.
Barricades have been erected around city hotels that will soon house the world's most powerful leaders, while thousands of police officers are beginning a sophisticated security operation within several restricted and declared zones.
But Mr Newman says the state government has put two-and-a-half years into planning the event and everything is in place for a "safe, secure and friendly" G20 summit.
Newman says he's 'apprehensive' ahead of the G20 summit. Photo: AAP
"I'm apprehensive because I often joke about this ... we are paid to worry," Mr Newman told ABC radio.
"It doesn't matter whether it's the G20 or it's planning for the next storm season or cyclone season for Queensland ... we're paid to think about what we need to do next and to literally anticipate problems and try to deal with them."
The summit was an unprecedented opportunity for Queensland's global positioning, Mr Newman said.
From Wednesday the premier, his ministers and the governor will start formally welcoming world leaders as they touch down at Brisbane's international airport.
Mr Newman will take part in several bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the summit, including with the Prime Ministers of Singapore and India, and the President of China Xi Jinping.
Mr Newman said he would speak with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi about economic opportunities in the resources sector.
"We'll certainly be putting on the table the fact that we've taken away the ban on uranium mining, we've made that point on previous trade missions," he said.
"We'll also very much though be talking about the Galilee Basin coal projects."
Mr Newman said while some roads would be affected during the summit he hoped people wouldn't avoid the city.
"The world's media will be out there wanting to interview real live Aussies," he said.
"They will be there wanting to talk to Queenslanders, and I hope people come in and join the spectacle of what's going on."
