Eggs and surfboards banned in Brisbane for G20 summit

Eggs, tinned food, reptiles and surfboards will be banned in parts of Brisbane this week as Australia braces itself for everything from unruly protests to mass hostage-taking at the Group of 20 summit.

Bomb-detecting robots will be on hand, along with a drone for crowd surveillance as US President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping join other leaders from the world's richest nations.

The operation will involve 6,000 police and 1,900 troops as Australia tries to protect the world's most powerful leaders and showcase its tolerance for political dissent.

The G20 meeting in Toronto four years ago is considered the summit's greatest public relations disaster, with over 1,100 protesters arrested in a week amid reports of police brutality.

"Wherever there's been a major event, we've taken those lessons and we've implemented what we think should be in our plans from those lessons, particularly what happened in Toronto," said Katarina Carroll, head of G20 security.

Police have spent two years talking to protest groups, from climate change campaigners to those angry about alleged Russian involvement in the downing of a Malaysian plane over Ukraine. There are 27 groups authorised to protest at designated areas near the summit venue.