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Summary Australia has become the first country in the world to welcome the New Year.
A new year has come to Australias south-east, with the clock striking midnight in New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.Hundreds of thousands of people have crowded Sydneys Harbour for what organisers call the biggest New Years Eve party in the world.After more than 15 months of planning, Sydneys official festivities began with a 12-minute fireworks display under the theme A Time To Dream.Seven tonnes of fireworks fired from barges, the foreshore and from the Harbour Bridge.The fireworks display includes new wonders including cloud-shaped fireworks and a multi-coloured waterfall from the base of the bridge.Sydney organisers say about 2.6 million Australians are watching the famed show light up the harbour.About 1 billion people around the world are expected to tune in and watch Sydneys festivities.Australia joins a handful of countries who have already rung in the new year, behind New Zealand and time zone-switching Samoa.
