Coming together to counter terrorism IT’S A FICTIONAL SCENARIO THAT WAS PLAYED OUT IN A VERY REAL WAY – VICTORIA POLICE UNCOVER A TERRORISM PLOT TO ATTACK AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST POWER STATION, SO THEY CALL ON THE MIGHT OF THE AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE FORCE TO HELP PROTECT IT.
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POLICE LIFE | SUMMER 2019-20
The simulation was the setting of a major joint training exercise designed to refine the response of Victoria Police and the Australian Defence Force (ADF) to domestic terrorism incidents. More than 250 Victoria Police, ADF and Department of Home Affairs personnel descended upon the Loy Yang Power Station in the Latrobe Valley over three days in October, as part of Exercise Southern Magpie 19. The exercise was run to test recent legislative changes that make it easier for states and territories to request ADF support in response to ongoing or anticipated situations on Australian soil, such as a terrorist incident. Loy Yang Power Station is crucial to the nation’s electricity network, so in the scenario, Victoria Police called upon the ADF and Home Affairs to help protect the power station and thwart the threat.
