The Australian capital, Canberra, is braced for protests ahead of the Olympic torch's latest leg of its troubled progress around the world.
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The relay starts within hours but some acts of protest have already started.
Australian PM Kevin Rudd says the authorities will come down "like a
tonne of bricks" on violent protesters.
The torch arrived at an air force base in Canberra on Wednesday before being taken to an undisclosed location.
A metre-high wire fence has been erected along the route of the procession, which has been shortened because of concerns about security. Hundreds of police will be deployed.
Long walk
Demonstrators against Chinese rule in Tibet and Beijing's human rights record are expected along the route, as well as pro-China protestors expressing support for the Beijing Games in August.
Activists in Sydney unfurled a banner over a billboard for Coca-Cola - an Olympic sponsor - urging China to open talks with exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. Police said they charged four people with trespassing and released them on bail.
Pro-Tibetan campaigners gathered outside the Chinese embassy in Canberra for a candle-lit vigil ahead of the relay. They included five Tibetans that had walked 70km (43 miles) from a small town called Bungendore in rural New South Wales to Canberra to meet the torch.
Organisers have abandoned plans to run the flame past the embassy, fearing it could become a flashpoint for protests.
Confusion
Warning against violence, Mr Rudd said: "What I can say loud and clear, if any protester irrespective of their political point of view engages in unruly, disruptive, violent, unlawful behaviour then the police will come down on them like a tonne of bricks.
"Peaceful protest, yes - violent protest, under no circumstances."
The BBC's Phil Mercer in Sydney says there has been confusion about the role of Chinese guards who are travelling with the torch.
The Australian government has insisted they will have no security role in Canberra, while the Chinese Ambassador has said they may have to intervene if the flame is attacked, he says.
But the Australian Capitol Territory's police chief, Mike Phelan, told reporters that local police would be solely responsible for safeguarding the torch.
Government and Olympic officials were on hand to welcome the torch when it arrived, as was aboriginal elder, Agnes Shea, who said she hoped its visit "symbolises good will for all mankind".
The former Australian Olympic swimmer, Ian Thorpe, said demonstrators should not be singling out the torch relay for protests.
"It should be something that's done consistently," he said.
Protests in Athens, London, Paris and San Francisco - where demonstrators angry at the Chinese occupation of Tibet tried to disrupt processions - have dominated media coverage of the torch relay.
However, the flame has made relatively peaceful progress through other cities, including Bangkok in Thailand and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
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(BBC)
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