In a further sign of terrorism’s impact on everyday life, temporary concrete bollards are being hastily put in place at Melbourne’s iconic Federation Square, Bourke Street Mall and other spots considered potential targets throughout the CBD.

The Victorian government recently allocated $10 million in the state budget for the increased security measures, including permanent bollards and additional CCTV cameras, after a car was driven into pedestrians on Bourke Street, killing six people, earlier this year.

Premier Daniel Andrews said those plans were brought forward in light of the horrific Islamist attacks on Manchester and in London, followed just a few days later by a fatal siege in Brighton which saw a woman held captive, an innocent man killed and three policemen injured.

The man at the centre of the siege, Yacqub Khayre, was shot dead by police.

Khayre, on parole at the time of the attack, called a television station and said he was a soldier of ISIS, which later claimed credit for the ambush and rampage.

“Constructing permanent bollards will take some time, [so] … I have directed that temporary bollards will be put in place at Federation Square and Bourke Street and a number of other sites,” Mr Andrews said.

“For a range of security reasons we don’t necessarily want to highlight where there might be points of weakness,” he said.

A temporary cyclone wire fence was put up around the MCG as an extra security measure for summer cricket matches in 2015-16, after a spate of terror attacks in France.

Mr Andrews said there was a “constant process of review” on the safety of the public in vulnerable locations, but would not confirm whether the MCG fence would return or whether the ground was one of the other sites earmarked for new bollards.

Bag searches are now routine at the ground, although critics have noted a suicide bomber could follow the example of the Manchester bomber and detonate a device among those standing in line to enter or as crowds exited the stadium.
-with ABC