"It's our view that whilst a specific location was not finalised, there was a view towards a crowded place, a place where maximum people would be attending, to be able to kill, we allege, a maximum amount of people as possible," Mr Ashton said. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video The men, aged 21, 26 and 30, all had their passports cancelled this year in January, March and October because authorities suspected they wanted to travel to a conflict zone. The men are Australian nationals of Turkish background with little criminal history. Two had no criminal history, Mr Ashton said, while the other had one offence of failing to display his L-plates in 2007. The 21-year-old Greenvale man has been charged with one count of act in preparation for, or planning of terrorist acts.

The passport cancellations may have led the men to focus their attention on planning an attack on home soil. Federal Police guard the house in Dallas where a terror raid was carried out. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui "When people are prevented from travelling or getting to the conflict zone, then often the view will be, 'I'll change tack and I'll commit an act in the country of which I live' and we've seen that al over the world," Victoria Police's counter-terrorism boss Ross Guenther said. The suspects radicalised themselves, and were inspired by IS (also known as ISIS) police said. Shoes rest at the house in Dallas where a suspect was arrested. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui

Loading "We're not suggesting this has been directed by ISIS, this has been inspired by ISIS and the propaganda machine," Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney said. "If we had not acted earlier in preventing this attack, we allege the consequences could have been chilling." The group's use of encrypted communication made it difficult for police to decipher when and where the plot was allegedly going to be carried out. Premier Daniel Andrews called it a "potentially deadly" plot.

"The seriousness of this potential incident, should not be underestimated and we congratulate and we are very grateful, all of us, as Victorians for the work that's being done," he said. Police guard the house of a suspect terrorist in Dallas on Tuesday Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui The men are expected to be charged and face court later this afternoon. Since the threat level was raised in September 2014, 90 people have been charged in relation to 40 counter-terrorism investigations across the country. Loading

In Victoria, Mr Guenther said four major plots had been foiled since then. Three men were found guilty a week ago of plotting a Christmas Day attack in Melbourne. The ringleader, Ibrahim Abbas, was sentenced to 24 years in prison. Eleven days ago, Hassan Khalif Shire Ali murdered restaurateur Sisto Malaspina and stabbed another two bystanders in Bourke Street before he was shot dead by police. A state funeral for Mr Malaspina was being held on Tuesday morning. Loading

The Bourke Street terror attack occurred during the highly publicised trial of James Gargasoulas, who was found guilty of mowing-down pedestrians in Bourke Street in January 2017. The operation involved Victoria Police, the Australian Federal Police, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), and other agencies that form part of the Joint Counter Terrorism Team. Counter terrorism raids in Dallas on Tuesday. Credit:Melissa Cunningham At the scene of one of the raids on Tuesday, in Dallas, a block of units had been cordoned-off by police. One man, who was visiting his brother in the house next door, said the family woke to find police storming the block of units.

The man who spoke to Fairfax Media on the condition of anonymity said his family had fled war-torn Iraq about 18 years ago. "We saw the police cars and wondered what was going on," he said. "It's pretty scary after what happened the week before last in the city...nobody wants to be around people driving crazy or people doing the wrong thing...that's why we came to Australia to get away from things like this but it seems to be happening more and more." Federal Police leave the house in Dallas. Credit:Luis Enrique Ascui