Sydney Harbour’s $6.5m fireworks display WILL go ahead

‘We can’t cancel’: Sydney’s New Year’s Eve fireworks display is set to go ahead – but the fire service refuses to rule out calling the show off at the last minute

  • Temperatures of 40C will hit Sydney and other parts of the state on Tuesday  
  • City of Sydney said the world-famous fireworks display would go ahead anyway
  • The pyrotechnics show is expected to bring $130million into the NSW economy 

Sydney Harbour’s $6.5million fireworks display will go ahead despite potentially catastrophic fire conditions threatening to grind the world-famous show to a halt. 

As the city braces for scorching temperatures on New Year’s Eve, high-level state officials met with the Rural Fire Service on Saturday to decide whether the pyrotechnics show should be cancelled. 

The City of Sydney confirmed on Sunday the event would go ahead, despite temperatures of 40C forecast for Tuesday across western Sydney.

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour Bridge during the midnight display on New Year’s Eve on Sydney Harbour on January 1, 2019

‘Preparations began 15 months ago which means that most of the budget, largely used for crowd safety and cleansing measures, has already been spent,’ local government spokeswoman Tanya Goldberg said on Sunday. 

The City acknowledged calls from a quarter of a million people who signed a petition calling for the fireworks to be scrapped and funding redirected to NSW drought and bushfire relief, but stood by the decision.  

‘Cancelling the event would seriously hurt Sydney businesses. It would also ruin plans for tens of thousands of people from across the country and overseas,’ a spokesperson said.

‘We can’t cancel the New Year’s Eve celebrations.’ 

But NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons refused to rule out calling off the fireworks at the last minute.

‘If I determine it to be too risky, that doesn’t concern me,’ Mr Fitzsimmons said.

‘The pyrotechnics organisations and local authorities are used to working with us around exemptions in the summer period, whether it is Christmas, New Year or some other event.

‘They know the arrangements, the procedures, and we will work through to make sure that risk is appropriately addressed and, where necessary, we won’t allow them to go ahead.’

Crowds of people pack the streets as they leave McMahons Point after viewing the midnight fireworks display on New Year's Eve on New Year's Eve on January 1, 2018

Crowds of people pack the streets as they leave McMahons Point after viewing the midnight fireworks display on New Year’s Eve on New Year’s Eve on January 1, 2018

The fireworks event is expected to generate $130million for the NSW economy. 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he acknowledged the anxiety around the issue but encouraged Sydney-siders to ‘show the world just how positive and optimistic we are’. 

‘I tell you what I really want to acknowledge and that’s how wonderful a country Australia is and on New Year’s Eve that’s what we tell the world with that amazing display about our optimism and our vibrancy,’ Mr Morrison said. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said if the RFS and experts say it’s safe for fireworks to go ahead, then they should.

‘Sydney is one of the first cities in the world that welcomes in the new year and if it’s safe to do so, we should continue to do it as we’ve done every other year.’ 

Some communities have decided to cancel or postpone their fireworks displays, including Armidale in the state’s northern tablelands and Huskisson on the south coast.

The fireworks, which will be seen around the world, are expected to attract one million people to the harbour foreshore.

An additional 1100 additional firework effects will be included in this year’s Harbour Bridge display to light up the arches.

A Fire and Rescue personal watches a bushfire as it burns near homes on the outskirts of the town of Bilpin on December 19, 2019 in Sydney

A Fire and Rescue personal watches a bushfire as it burns near homes on the outskirts of the town of Bilpin on December 19, 2019 in Sydney 

More than 100,000 pyrotechnic effects will feature in the celebrations and letters spelling out Sydney will fall from the bridge as midnight nears. 

Several local councils in NSW have already cancelled their New Year’s fireworks celebrations due to the fire danger – with many donating the funding to bushfire victims instead.

So far nine people have died and more than 900 homes have been destroyed in the 2019 fire season as large areas of New South Wales, South Australia, Victoria and Queensland have been incinerated.

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