CANBERRA, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- Australian authorities have promised unprecedented levels of security for the country's biggest horse racing carnival which attracts more than 300,000 people.
The Melbourne Cup Carnival begins on Saturday and features four days of racing over the following week, with crowds flocking to Flemington Racecourse for the annual sporting spectacular.
Despite "no specific threat" to the carnival being established, Victoria Police Superintendent David Clayton said, "We learn from what's happening overseas and we ensure that we use any intelligence that is relevant to inform us to ensure we have an appropriate and proportional security environment at an event."
Clayton told Australian media on Thursday that at the moment there is no specific threat to Australia or to this event "that would cause us to increase our already very good security arrangements."
"We have a highly visible policing presence supported by specialists who are present at the event to ensure that we can provide a safe environment for the public," he added.
The Victoria Racing Club (VRC) is expecting up to 100,000 people at Derby Day, the first day of the carnival, and the Melbourne Cup, the biggest event in Australian thoroughbred racing, which is held next Tuesday.
Lisa Neville, Victoria's Police Minister, confirmed on Wednesday that emergency sirens would be installed across Melbourne to broadcast messages during a major incident or attack.
"We are also upgrading all of the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras which is what is fed into the monitoring and assessment," Neville said.
