The anti-terror measure Sly says has likely ‘saved a lot of lives’ in Melbourne

In the wake of the 2017 Bourke Street tragedy, where James Gargasoulas mowed down pedestrians, killing six and injuring another 27, bollards were introduced in heavily pedestrianised CBD sites.

John ‘Sly’ Silvester says they likely saved lives a year later, when Hassan Khalif Shire Ali sped down Bourke Street, parked his ute and set it alight, then stabbed three people, killing cafe icon Sisto Malaspina.

The Victorian coroner this week found the stabbing attack was a premeditated act of terrorism.

“It was in the afternoon and that area of Bourke Street is not the busiest part of town,” Sly said of the 2018 attack.

“So it is fair to believe that the bollards that had been put up after that first attack may well have saved a lot of lives because he came down that road and saw that he couldn’t get through to replicate what happened (in 2017).”

Sly says Victorians are being saved from many targeted attacks we never hear about, with police intervening before attacks are carried out.

“There’s the fixated threat assessment centre which is set up within Victoria Police,” he said.

“Instead of chasing people after they’ve been radicalised or after they’ve offended.”

Press PLAY below to hear more from Sly about how police are targeting terrorists