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New Year 2016: Australians flock to fireworks displays around the country to celebrate.

New Year’s Eve revellers were well behaved with police praising crowd behaviour after more than 1 million people packed into Sydney and Melbourne to watch fireworks displays and usher in 2016.

An estimated 1.6 million people flooded into central Sydney to watch the country’s largest New Year’s Eve fireworks display, with some harbour-side viewing spots reaching capacity as early as 8:30pm.

The celebrations also continued at Bondi beach this morning, where about 300 people gathered to watch the first sunrise of 2016.

New South Wales Assistant Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said the majority of people behaved responsibly.

“Finishing on such a safe night and the fact that Sydneysiders were so well-behaved again, it was important for me to say happy New Years,” he said

Officers said they made 30 arrests, with about half for drug-related offences.

Paramedics said they treated more than 2,000 people between 4pm yesterday and 3am today — mostly those who had drunk too much.

The Sydney display — which cost $7 million — was themed “city of colour” and the bridge was the centrepiece of celebrations.

Thousands of revellers claimed their vantage point at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair after a throng of partygoers arrived on Thursday morning to secure a spot.

Some people even set up camp at McMahons Point two days ahead of the fireworks display for a prime view.

In Melbourne, about half a million people packed the city with the banks of the Yarra all but claimed ahead of the early fireworks.

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Those with a view of the city skyline were treated to 10 tonnes of fireworks.

Ambulance Victoria praised party-goers with calls to triple zero down by one third compared to last year.

However, two men in their 20s are in critical condition after suffering falls.

One man suffered head and pelvis injuries after falling off a balcony in Kew, in Melbourne’s east, just before 2.30am while another man suffered head injuries at Cowes, south of Melbourne, when he jumped off a pier

In Canberra, most of the fireworks were launched from City Hall with coloured flames also shooting from roofs at Civic Square.

In Tasmania, thousands danced the new year in at the Falls Festival in Marion Bay.

And despite a forecast top of 39 degrees Celsius for Adelaide and other centres in SA, tens of thousands flocked to traditional hotspots to ring in 2016.

Beachside events at Brighton and Glenelg were again very popular and in the city centre the biggest midnight fireworks ever staged by Adelaide City Council exploded from Torrens Lake.

Launceston’s main celebrations were at Royal Park and in Hobart, with families surrounding the waterfront precinct for a night of entertainment and fireworks.

Revellers in Brisbane enjoyed more than 30,000 fireworks — launched from five barges on the Brisbane River as well as three rooftops — an hour after celebrations began in southern states.

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Thousands packed into prime vantage points at South Bank with restaurants, pubs and clubs also full to the brim.

Darwin saw in 2016 with the first midnight firework show at the Waterfront as revellers enjoy an Aussie-outback-themed event.

In Perth, the New Year’s Eve party at Perth Zoo proved incredibly popular for families with 4,500 people attending.

A massive free outdoor event at Northbridge attracted hundreds of revellers, while others gathered at Burswood, Claremont Showgrounds and Rockingham, among other locations, to watch firework displays.

Police in Perth reported that crowds attending fireworks displays in Burswood and Fremantle were peaceful.

However, paramedics were kept busy with drug and alcohol overdoses.

St John spokesman James Sherriff said resources were stretched between midnight and 2.00am when there were several assaults and stabbings – but none of the injuries were life-threatening.

A man was also bitten by a snake when he tried to sleep in bush at Lake Monger in Leederville.

He is believed to be in a stable condition in hospital.

 

This post originally appeared on ABC Online.

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