TWO activists have been detained by police after protesting outside Adani headquarters in Townsville this morning.

The two women put up a large red banner with the slogan "no new coal" in front of the Adani building on Tomlins St, Townsville at about 8.30am on Sunday.

The protest was live streamed by members of the Frontline Action on Coal group.

Scout Barden was one of the members on the ground and said he didn't want to stand by as Adani "gambles with the future of our planet".

"We are drawing a line in the sand on all new coal projects, including Adani's destructive megamine," he said.

Police were called to the scene shortly after the banner was revealed and ordered the women to take it down.

The banner was confiscated and the women were taken into custody just before 9am.

One of the protesters was released about an hour later.

She said the banner drop was the start of a month of protest actions on the theme "no new coal".

"We chose a couple of lampposts outside the Adani HQ … we got ourselves rigged up onto lamp posts and got up and we were able to haul the banner up," she said.

Frontline Action on Coal are planning a large national "day of action" against new coal projects on June 30.