Councillor Jonathan Sri court case could move to Supreme Court in unprecedented move

Greens councillor Jonathan Sri is fighting legal action brought against him by Brisbane City Council over an inner-city protest last year.

Brisbane City Council has taken Greens councillor Jonathan Sri to court over an alleged illegal protest involving four people last year that lasted about 15 minutes in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall.

Cr Sri on Thursday pleaded not guilty to one count of undertaking prohibited activity and one count of failing to obtain consent after he allegedly organised an unauthorised protest against the cashless welfare rollout on September 25, 2021.

The offences could attract a maximum penalty of $5514.

Kevin Cartledge, lawyer for the council, told Brisbane Magistrates Court that Cr Sri did not provide adequate notice of intention to assemble or gain permission from council before the protest.

He further alleged that Cr Sri did not gain permission to hold a sign with messaging on it, arguing this was a case of unauthorised advertising.

“No consent was given in respect to that activity,” Mr Cartledge said.

Cr Jonathan Sri (right) outside court. Picture: John Gass

The court was shown 20 minutes of CCTV footage of Cr Sri meeting with three other people outside Hungry Jacks and the Sunglass Hut in the Queen Street Mall.

Cr Sri could be seen holding a sign and talking to a fourth person with a mobile phone who appeared to be videoing him making a speech for about 15 minutes, before the group dispersed.

Cr Sri’s defence counsel Kate Fuller said Sri was not disputing the facts of the case, but the nature of the protest.

She argued the assembly was peaceful, that there was no clear definition advertisement under council’s local law and that Cr Sri was not directed to move on or cease the protest by council authorities or police.

Ms Fuller said it was within Cr Sri’s human rights to exercise freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and take part in public life, before making an application for the matter to be moved to the Brisbane Supreme Court where the alleged offences would be considered under the Human Rights Act.

Councillor Jonathan Sri protesting in Brisbane's Queen Street Mall on September 25, 2021

“Restricting councillor Sri from holding a plaque that indicates a message against cashless welfare is an unjustifiable restriction on those rights, and we say that preventing him from standing in a mall speaking into a camera is a further unjustifiable restriction of those rights,” Ms Fuller said.

While Mr Cartledge conceded there was an “extremely broad definition” of what an assembly actually was under the Peaceful Assembly Act, he argued that the legal requirement to obtain permission to assemble was only a restriction and not a burden on Cr Sri’s rights.

But Ms Fuller maintained there was “strong public interest” in the Supreme Court using its powers to apply the Human Rights Act to local law matters and to clarify the statutory definition of advertisement.

Cr Sri chose not to give evidence in court on Thursday.

Magistrate Tina Previtera reserved her decision on whether the case would move to the Supreme Court, which if approved, she said would be unprecedented in Queensland.

The matter was adjourned.

Originally published as Councillor Jonathan Sri court case could move to Supreme Court in unprecedented move