{"id":483732,"date":"2026-01-01T02:19:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T02:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/483732\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T02:19:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T02:19:18","slug":"police-praise-sydney-new-years-eve-behaviour-amid-emotional-celebrations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/483732\/","title":{"rendered":"Police praise Sydney New Year’s Eve behaviour amid emotional celebrations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police have praised the behaviour of Sydney New Year’s Eve revellers, with only a small number of people arrested as celebrations took place across the city.<\/p>\n

On one of the busiest days of the year, 38 people were arrested, including nine in the CBD.<\/p>\n

NSW Police called it a “great success”.<\/p>\n

“People did come in, they listened to directions of police, they listened to event management, and I think by and large people had a great time,” Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna said.<\/p>\n

“We saw people come together after a heartbreaking month.”<\/p>\n

\"Sydney's<\/p>\n

More than nine tonnes of fireworks were used. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

At Guildford, in the city’s west, four people were arrested for allegedly throwing fireworks that injured two children and a man.<\/p>\n

Two girls, aged 12 and 14, were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.<\/p>\n

A record 2,500 police officers were on patrol overnight, with some bearing long-arm guns in the wake of the Bondi terror attack.<\/p>\n

Police said it was to provide a sense of security for crowds and not because of an increased threat.<\/p>\n

Loading…’We couldn’t have wished for more’<\/p>\n

Some revellers camped out along the harbour at 4am in the morning to secure the best vantage point.<\/p>\n

More than a million people attended the Sydney Harbour fireworks and more than half a billion watched the 12-minute, colourful display around the world.<\/p>\n

Organisers said nine tonnes of fireworks were used and more than 40,000 pyrotechnics.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

More than 40,000 pyrotechnics were used in the display. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

More than a million revellers attended the Sydney Harbour New Year’s Eve event. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

It was a night of celebration and emotion. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said she thought attendee numbers “were slightly down”, but a million people still gathered for the “magical” night.<\/p>\n

“The weather was good, the night was balmy, the pyrotechnics were just amazing and it was very safe and it was very happy,” she said.<\/p>\n

“In terms of the circumstances that led up to this night, we couldn’t have wished for more.”<\/p>\n

“We are overseas travellers. It’s 2026 now and back home it’s still a different year. We loved it. It was amazing,” one man said.<\/p>\n

“They were life-changing. It was amazing. The coolest fireworks we’ll probably ever see. The best 12 minutes,” one couple said.<\/p>\n

“It was my best day ever,” a young boy said.<\/p>\n

Cr Moore said 40 trucks were used to collect tonnes of rubbish, with the city now “sparkly again”.<\/p>\n

A time for reflection\"The<\/p>\n

The Sydney Harbour Bridge was illuminated in white to honour the Bondi terror attack victims. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

The occasion was also a time for sombre reflection.<\/p>\n

The 15 victims of the December 14 attack at Bondi were remembered at some New Year’s Eve events.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Attendees held their phone torches high during the minute’s silence. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

For some, the night was sombre and filled with grief and sadness. (ABC News: Abubakr Sajid)<\/p>\n

At 11pm the Sydney Harbour Bridge was lit up in white with a menorah illuminated on the pylons, and attendees observed a minute’s silence.<\/p>\n

“Everyone gathered was invited to observe a minute’s silence and shine a light of their own in solidarity to show the Jewish community that we stand with them and we reject violence, fear and antisemitism and all forms of racism,” Cr Moore said.<\/p>\n

She said the presence of heavily-armed police officers “didn’t seem to impact the night”.<\/p>\n

At Coogee Beach, four victims from the council area, including 10-year-old Matilda, were honoured with 15 gold fireworks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police have praised the behaviour of Sydney New Year’s Eve revellers, with only a small number of people…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":483733,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12424,4740,218843,218844,30654,22172,5864,145751,50,182710,7207,108092,13048,67437,214092],"class_list":{"0":"post-483732","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-arrest","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-behaviour","11":"tag-bondi-victims","12":"tag-celebrations","13":"tag-emotional","14":"tag-fireworks","15":"tag-new-years-eve","16":"tag-news","17":"tag-nye","18":"tag-police","19":"tag-praise","20":"tag-sydney","21":"tag-sydney-harbour-bridge","22":"tag-tributes"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115817451945616333","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483732\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483733"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}