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Billboard Chris has had his $806 fine withdrawn after a dramatic free speech showdown in Brisbane’s Queen Street Mall earlier this year.

Canadian activist Chris Elston — better known as “Billboard Chris” — has had an $806 fine overturned by Brisbane City Council after a controversial incident in Queen Street Mall.

On 24 March 2025, Chris Elston was confronted by a Brisbane City Council officer shortly after arriving at the Queen Street Mall with his signature message board reading: “Children Cannot Consent to Puberty Blockers”.

At the time, Elston was in Australia to attend a five-day hearing challenging a censorship order from the eSafety Commissioner, in a case widely seen as a major test of free speech.

The officer accused Elston of obstructing pedestrian traffic and issued him an $806 infringement notice. Elston, however, recorded the entire encounter and firmly denied the claim, declining to leave the public square.

“I refused to leave, so he gave me an $806 ticket and called the police,” Elston recalled of the incident in a recent post on X. “Twelve police arrived and over the next 45 minutes they debated what to do with me.”

He continued, “I was told I would go to jail if I refused to move, but I knew the council worker was lying. I hadn’t violated any of their bylaws.”

Despite the dramatic scene, Elston was not arrested — though his signs were confiscated, and he was forcibly moved on.

Tremendous news in Australia!

I’ve just won a victory over the Brisbane City Council, who had police remove me from the public square.

On March 24th, a council worker ordered me to leave the town square within the first hour of my arrival on Queen Street. He lied outright,… pic.twitter.com/s4b6huix1J

— Billboard Chris 🌎 (@BillboardChris) June 23, 2025

Brisbane City Council Withdraws Fine

Last Friday, three months after the incident, Elston received official notification from Brisbane City Council that the infringement notice against him had been cancelled.

The letter, signed by Acting City Malls Operations Manager James Dorman, stated, “After reviewing the file and giving consideration to the facts and circumstances surrounding this matter, I wish to advise that Infringement Notice 8000030612317 has been withdrawn.”

The letter continued, “There is no further action required by you and this matter is now closed. Please note, any further infringements issued to you for similar offences will be reviewed on their own merits.”

Elston shared the letter publicly, adding, “It almost sounds like they expect me to come back. And they’re right. I’ll be back. Standing in the same spot.”

The incident has raised questions about the apparent double standard applied to Elston’s peaceful activism.

“I was further told that I am the only person they had ever tried to move on in this manner,” he noted on X. “It’s clear the problem was the Council’s ignorant bias about my message.”

“Authorities at all levels of Australian government need to stop censoring people peacefully telling the truth about this child abuse,” Elston further stated.

Broader Context for Billboard Chris’ Vindication 

Elston’s recent vindication came with legal support from John Steenhof and the Human Rights Law Alliance (HRLA), who helped him contest the fine by submitting full video footage of the incident.

HRLA is also representing Elston in his separate and widely watched case before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, where he is challenging a censorship order from the eSafety Commissioner.

That case arose after Elston criticised Australian transgender activist Teddy Cook in a 2024 social media post. The Commissioner claimed the post was “offensive” and pressured the platform to geoblock it in Australia under the Online Safety Act.

The hearing for that matter began on 31 March 2025. A verdict is expected in the latter half of this year.

Elston’s treatment by Brisbane authorities is not an isolated event but appears to be part of a broader pattern of government resistance to dissenting views on gender ideology in Australia.

Among other instances previously reported by The Daily Declaration:

• Victorian MP Moira Deeming was defamed and suspended by the Liberal Party for speaking at a 2023 rally against gender ideology, later winning a defamation lawsuit.
• Author Kirralie Smith faced an apprehended violence order and a separate vilification case for advocating against males in women’s sports.
• Breastfeeding expert Jasmine Sussex was censored by the eSafety Commissioner in 2021 for tweeting “men cannot breastfeed,” and was subsequently taken to the Queensland Civil and Administrative for her stance.
• Writer and entrepreneur Sal Grover was sued in 2023 for excluding a male from her women’s-only app Giggle.
• Dr Jillian Spencer was suspended from Queensland Children’s Hospital in 2023 for questioning its gender dysphoria policies, and is now under investigation by AHPRA.
• Hobart City Councillor Louise Elliot faced investigation and disciplinary action from the Anti-Discrimination Commissioner and Tasmania’s Integrity Commission for social media comments on gender identity.

To stay updated on each of these stories and the outcome of Chris Elston’s court case, be sure to subscribe for free to The Daily Declaration email news.