Police praise mostly well-behaved NYE revellers despite firework-related blazes
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Melbourne and Sydney fires brought under control, including in Tempe, and stabbings reported in Guildford and the Mornington Peninsula. New Year’s Eve revellers have largely been praised for their behaviour at Australia’s biggest fireworks shows, while officers were kept busy with outbursts of trouble around local fireworks.
More than a million people swarmed the main vantage points around Sydney harbour and hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular. Police in both cities said the vast majority of partygoers enjoyed the night safely, although officers were kept busy with violence away from the main celebration areas.
Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email. A 17-year-old boy was stabbed at a park in Guilford in Sydney’s west, as police said they were called to an incident as a group of males allegedly let off fireworks at a park about 10.40pm. The boy was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition, as police searched for an offender who allegedly fled the scene.
There were 36 arrests in the Sydney CBD and harbour foreshore areas for offences including assault, affray, robbery and knife possession. The New South Wales assistant commissioner, Peter McKenna, said the vast majority of people enjoyed their night safely and without incident.
“Unfortunately, police were kept busy by a handful of revellers doing the wrong thing, but those people were dealt with quickly,” he said. In Tempe, in Sydney’s inner west, a grass fire that started late in the evening was brought under control by firefighters.
