Huge security operation to guard Games city

CANBERRA - A huge security clampdown will cover Melbourne during next year's Commonwealth Games, with fears of a terror attack rising after the release of an al Qaeda video naming the city as a target.

As the Cabinet yesterday considered a new raft of even tougher anti-terror laws, federal and state authorities detailed the measures being planned to protect the Games.

They include sorties by Air Force F/A18 fighter jets, special forces backed with Black Hawk helicopters, chemical and biological warfare teams and the entire strength of the Victorian police, with all leave and training cancelled for the duration.

The Government had previously announced that its deployment of SAS and commandos in Afghanistan would be limited to ensure their return in time for the Games.

Australia imposed huge security blankets over the Sydney Olympics and the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, which included an Air Force-protected no-fly zone above the conference centre.

The ability to ward off terror attacks and to familiarise forces with plans for Melbourne will be further tested next month in a national counter-terror exercise named Mercury '05.

The nation is also likely to have much harsher laws to detect and detain terror suspects in place by the time of the Games.

The Cabinet yesterday was preparing a new package for a special summit with state premiers on September 27.

The package, which has alarmed civil rights and Muslim groups, will require the co-operation of the states to impose a new national legal framework, and will add to the 34 laws passed or introduced to Parliament since the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.

New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have already beefed up their own security laws and counter-terror police units, and South Australia and Western Australia have announced proposed measures that in some cases will be even tougher than the new federal proposals.

Prime Minister John Howard's new package is expected to include strict security checks and random searches for airport personnel, 12-month control orders on terror suspects that could include the enforced wearing of electronic tracking devices, and powers to detain questionable people for up to 48 hours in the event of a terror attack.

Other measures on the Cabinet agenda yesterday included much broader stop, question and search powers for police and counter-terror agencies, increasing the powers of the domestic spy agency, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, and new laws to tighten controls on inciting violence, including violence against Australian troops serving overseas in places such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

In Melbourne, Attorney-General Philip Ruddock and Victorian Police Commissioner Christine Nixon yesterday warned of widespread random checking of cars and of sports fans during the Games clampdown.

Although the al Qaeda threat made against Melbourne this month by American terrorist Adam Yahiye Gadahn is now considered to have little substance, the naming of an Australian city has reinforced belief that a terror attack is inevitable.

Victoria has cancelled all leave and training courses for its 13,000 police officers for the Games, backed by a major military deployment that will include a 1200-member task force patrolling and searching venues.

"There will be a tactical assault group with appropriate support, including Black Hawk helicopters," Mr Ruddock said.

"There will be a range of chemical, biological and radiological response assets.

"Helicopters, fast jets and ships will be available to counter specific threats should they arise, including the capability to divert and intercept vessels at sea."

On patrol during the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne next March:

* 13,000 Victorian police.

* Soldiers, including a 1200-member task force.

* Black Hawk helicopters, F/A18 fighter jets.