Bollards installed

The State Government has been installing anti-terrorism concrete bollards unannounced and overnight, including at Queensbridge Square on June 23.

A batch of bollards appeared at the intersection of the Southbank Boulevard footpath and Queensbridge Square, as well as at the Queensbridge St border of the square.

The safety barriers are installed at areas with high pedestrian traffic, in light of recent global terrorism-related attacks and vehicle rampages on pedestrians.

Some of the first bollards were installed in the Bourke St Mall, the site of a massacre when a car ploughed into pedestrians and killed six people in January.

Premier Daniel Andrews said: “There’s no time to be wasted here. When we think about London, when we think about other events, tragic events on the other side of the world and events very close to home, there’s no time to be wasted.”

The concrete bollards will be replaced by a network of permanent and retractable bollards and street furniture, funded by a $10-million chunk of the 2017/18 state budget.

“But, we’re not going to wait for that work to be done. That will take some time,” Mr Andrews said.

“This is not about alarming people, it’s simply indicating that we are prepared and that we are doing everything that we need to do to keep Victorians safe,” he said.

Terrorism expert at Victoria University, Professor Ramón Spaaij, said over-reliance on obvious public security measures could be problematic.

“The more of these measures you put in place, the more people start to feel unsafe,” he said.

“People start noticing the increased security and start assessing the possible risks and threats. They can help by diverting attacks away, simply because these lone individuals may not have the ability to overcome these barriers. Then the problem is target displacement.”

Other locations where bollards have been installed so far include Federation Square, Flinders Street Station, Southern Cross Station, Queen Victoria Market and Boathouse Drive under Princes Bridge.