New Year’s Eve Australia LIVE UPDATES: ABC’s NYE coverage is labelled ’embarrassing’ with Robbie Williams shamelessly plugging his own movie on stage – after ‘black power’ rappers performed during children’s fireworks show

Robbie Williams divided ABC viewers on Tuesday night, despite bringing down the house at the tail end of the network’s New Year’s Eve broadcast.

The British pop superstar spared no opportunity to promote his new biopic, Better Man, launching into a shameless plug mid-set.

It was before his performance of Better Man that Robbie gave a rave review to his own movie of same name.

‘Some critics are calling it the movie of the century! Not my words, except they are because I just made that up’ he said to the crowd.

The move divided viewers, with many annoyed that the ABC – a government owned, tax payer funded television station – was spending a pretty penny on Williams performance.

‘Did my tax dollars pay for this lazy Robbie Williams set? What the f**k. PR for a movie during a set as well?!’ wrote one person on X.

‘Robbie Williams is busy posing & promoting himself, how about singing a song’ added another alongside a thumbs down emoji.

‘Your tax dollars hard at work with this Robbie Williams performance’ posted another.

2025 is already off to a shaky start for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as a federal election looms.

‘Happy New Year, Australia,’ he posted on X at the stroke of midnight.

His message divided Aussies as the post was quickly flooded with hundreds of comments.

‘Happy New Year to all Australians except you!’ one commented.

Another added: ‘It will be a great new year when I see you do the walk of shame and become the one term PM you deserve to be. Now fk off!’

A third wrote: ‘Can’t afford to feed the homeless but here’s some fancy fireworks!’

Others weighed in on Australia’s record immigration figures while slamming the PM.

Some pointed out that millions of Aussies were yet to ring in 2025.

‘Happy New Year, Australia unless you live in Queensland, Darwin, Perth, Adelaide or Alice Springs……..’ one person quipped.

But there were some that returned the sentiment.

‘Happy new year Albo, You’re one of the best PMs of Australia!’ one well-wisher wrote.

Sydney and Melbourne have welcomed in 2025 with a bang.

New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT were the first to ring in the new year followed by South Australia, Queensland and then the Northern Territory.

Western Australia will be the last state to welcome in the new year at 3am AEST.

An estimated 53,500 fireworks were set off around the harbour, were set off during Sydney’s $6.3million display.

Those who snagged a harbour view earned a stunning front-row display as fireworks dazzled the harbour from both the east and west sides of the famous Harbour Bridge for the first time.

Composer Luna Pam debuted her 12-minute underwater-themed fireworks soundtrack at midnight, which rang out alongside skyward explosions and AI projections.

By the night’s end, nine tonnes of fireworks had been launched from barges to the bridge to the top of the Opera House’s sails, featuring 80 new firing locations.

The world famous fireworks attracted an estimated 425million viewers from around the global.

Glittering technicolour fireworks across 27 Melbourne rooftops aided by a laser light show marked a new beginning for an estimated 500,000-plus revellers as they packed into every vantage point available across the city.

The city’s Flinders Street Station was lit up in flashing colours to compliment the fireworks.

Easlewhere across Australia, 80,000 individual fireworks exploded across Brisbane’s skyline with more up and down the Gold and Sunshine Coasts.

In Adelaide, fireworks, food trucks, Big Bash cricket and live music were on offer with more than 400,000 expected to pack the CBD.

Thousands of revellers and A-League fans have run for their lives as a grass fire ripped through a busy park on the NSW Central Coast.

The match between Central Coast Mariners and Melbourne City had just finished and the crowd of around 11,000 in the Industree Group Stadium in Gosford were heading home.

There were also people in the area to watch New Year’s Eve fireworks at Leagues Club Park and the waterfront.

‘We were just leaving the Mariners game with the kids and there was a big bang like a fire cracker,’ a witness told Daily Mail Australia.

‘Then within a few minutes the kids playground area was on fire.

Furious viewers have blasted the ABC for making its family friendly 9pm coverage of the iconic New Year’s Eve celebrations too ‘woke’ in its message.

Unimpressed viewers quickly took to social media to slam the ABC for ‘politicising’ the annual celebration.

‘Glad the ABC decided once again to turn NYE into another political statement. Children don’t need 9pm fun and fireworks without a heaped serving of cultural education. WOKE,’ one viewer sniped.

The performances on the broadcast were also slammed.

‘Another taxpayer funded divisive load of s**t,’ one fumed

Another added: ‘Every year I watch the NYE fireworks on the ABC and all the artists that perform are full of racist undertones.’

A third wrote: ‘The ABC’s coverage is an absolute disgrace.

Millions of revellers have packed vantage points around the Sydney Harbour foreshore to watch the 9pm Calling Country fireworks spectacular

The traditional “family fireworks” lit up the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in a blaze of colour three hours ahead of the main show at midnight.

Nine tonnes of fireworks were fired from 16 locations on the harbour.

The Calling Country fireworks was followed by a light show on the harbour featuring a parade of lit-up boats and ferries.

UK pop star Robbie Williams will take to the Opera House from 11.45pm for a live singalong and to ring in 2025.

Charlie Pickering made an embarrassing blunder as ABC’s New Year’s Eve broadcast got underway at 8.30pm.

The host became tongue-tied while introducing the coverage alongside co-presenter Zan Rowe.

‘Tonight, we see in the new year live from around the world, ah around the world, ah good start,’ he said.

Rowe began to interrupt before Pickering quicky corrected himself.

‘From the world famous Sydney Opera House on Gadigal Country.’

The gaffe prompted laughter from his co-presenter.

There were delays on Sydney’s transport network after rail staff stopped work during the city’s busiest night of the year.

Many trains came to a halt during the five minute stoppage at 6pm as Rail, Tram and Bus Union members stopped work to plaster stickers on trains to protest wage conditions.

The union warned commuters to expect a “short, small disruption”.

‘This short action at 6pm is a low-level action that allows rail workers to participate in a highly-visible activity….as they continue to campaign for the fair wages and conditions they deserve.’

It then added: ‘Any ongoing disruptions or cancellations on the rail network tonight and into the new year can only be attributed to the mismanagement of Sydney Trains.’

The union also claimed that Sydney Trains was made aware of the stoppage on December 16, ‘giving them more than adequate time to prepare for it.’

‘This short action at 6pm is a low-level action that allows rail workers to participate in a highly-visible activity…

‘…as they continue to campaign for the fair wages and conditions they deserve.’

There were also reports of cancellations, according to furious commuters.

‘Sydney Trains cancelled BOTH f****** trains we were supposed to be on. Are u kidding me,’ one fumed on X.

As of 5pm, the following vantage spots are now at full capacity

*Hickson Road Reserve / Campbells Cove

The Rocks and Barangaroo remain open to revellers heading into the city but are filling up fast.

For those heading to Mison Point, From 6pm until midnight, trains travelling from the city on the #NorthShoreLine will not stop at Milsons Point

NSW Health has issued a New Year’s Eve warning about the dangers of spiked cocaine – revealing one person has died and two people have overdosed in the past week.

The sufferers experienced ‘severe sedative effects and altered behaviour’ as the white powder contained a type of benzodiazepine and a hallucinogen.

Poisons Information Centre acting medical director Professor Andrew Dawson said: ‘Anyone who experiences unexpected sedative effects such as difficulty speaking or walking, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, slowed breathing/snoring and skin turning blue/grey should seek medical care immediately.

‘If you are feeling unwell, stay with friends or around other people. Don’t go home alone to sleep it off.’

For support and information on drug and alcohol problems, contact the Alcohol and Drug Information Service on 1800 250 015 24 hours a day.

Two men and one woman, all from Sydney, have been seriously injured by a fallen tree branch at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance.

The group were crushed by the branch while walking down steps towards St Kilda Road shortly before 1.30pm.

One of the men, 56, only suffered minor scratch while the woman, 57, sustained serious, non-life-threatening injuries to her upper body.

She remains in a serious but stable condition.

The second man, 21, suffered injuries to his lower body.

The Shrine of Remembrance on Birdwood Ave is one of four designated celebration zones for Melbourne’s NYE events.

Sydney’s famous fireworks will dazzle more than a million revellers flocking to the iconic harbour.

The city will set the tone with 20 minutes of pyrotechnics in two displays, eight water-based firework platforms and new animal-based designs shooting from the top of the Sydney Opera House sails.

More than half a million revellers are set to converge in Melbourne, with fireworks set to light up the sky from 27 points along with 60 laser projections.

About 80,000 individual fireworks will also explode across Brisbane’s skyline and more up and down Gold and Sunshine coasts.

In Adelaide, fireworks, food trucks and live music are set to lure about 25,000 to the Torrens Riverbank with more than 400,000 people expected to visit the city on New Year’s Eve.

Perth will be treated to two explosive displays, one at 8.30pm from a barge on the Swan River and a second midnight display to announce the arrival of 2025.

In Tasmania, Launceston will combine fireworks with a festival to showcase more than 40 of the island state’s fine food and drink producers at the seventh annual BeerFest in Royal Park on New Year’s Eve.

Amid sweltering conditions, limited shade and intense crowds, the number one item among NYE viewers is an umbrella.

Hundreds of people gathered around Sydney Harbour are seeking any shade they can find to escape the heat.

Many planned ahead and brought their own shelter, an umbrella, to shield themselves from the sun.

Ahead of the celebrations, medical experts have urged partygoers not to start the new year in an emergency room.

Hospitals experience an influx of new year presentations but most are preventable with common sense, the Rural Doctors Association of Australia says.

‘Unsurprisingly, over-indulging in alcohol is one of the biggest reasons why patients come to the hospital over the festive season,’ president Raymond Lewandowski said.

‘The moral to the story. Take extra care when doing activities you normally wouldn’t be doing outside the festive season, and don’t use that very moment to act the fool in front of family and friends.’

Illegal fireworks could also cost people more than their life and property, with heavy penalties across the nation.

‘The few moments of entertainment they provide is simply not worth the potential catastrophic consequences,’ WorkSafe Victoria’s Sam Jenkins said.

Spots at East Circular Quay have run out as crowds gathering for the firework display grow.

Those gathered in the lesser-known viewing areas have begin staking their claim, despite facing temperatures in the high 20Cs.

However, the Bureau of Meteorology warned celebrations could be spoiled by incoming rain.

‘It will be a little cooler along the east coast with the risk of some showers and thunderstorms,’ according to Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Miriam Bradbury.

‘In fact, parts of southeast Queensland and northeast NSW may see severe thunderstorms bringing heavy falls for New Year’s Eve afternoon and early evening.’

Major city celebrations should be spared most of the wet, or at least so beyond midnight. However rain and rough weather will persist across Australia’s tropical north on Wednesday, Ms Bradbury said.

The ABC’s hosts for the countdown to 2025 this year will be Charlie Pickering, Zan Rowe and Concetta Caristo.

Coverage will begin at 8.30pm and will include performances from Fanning Dempsey National Park, Casey Donovan, Cyril, Nooky and G Flip.

The event will be broadcast across the whole ABC network, including ABC TV, and be livestreamed on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok and ABC iview.

Late-arriving spectators have already been squeezed out of most of the best vantage points for this year’s fireworks.

The City of Sydney has shared a map of NYE vantage points with live updates on capacity.

It has flagged Blues Point, Bennelong Lawn, Sydney Opera House, Tarpeian Lawn and Hickson Rd Reserve as full.

Mrs Macquaries Point is almost at capacity.

Festivities for New Year’s Eve will kick off at 7.30pm with a smoking ritual followed by a Welcome to Country address at 8.30pm.

The speech will be quickly followed by the Harbour Bridge’s pylons being lit with projections and Callling Country Fireworks at 9pm.

Boats covered in festive lights will start moving around the harbour from 9.15pm.

British singer Robbie Williams will host a live singalong from 11.45pm, followed by the highly-anticipated fireworks display at midnight.

Hundreds have flooded the spots touted as Sydney’s best viewing for the New Year’s Eve fireworks.

Yet even those who headed towards the harbour this morning have missed out on the most coveted seats with some dedicated spectators arriving as early as 1am.

The line to for the Bradfield Park vantage point in North Sydney was already 350m long at 7am.

By 11am, Fleet Steps, Blues Point and the Sydney Opera House were almost at full capacity.

The crowds at this year’s event are expected to be the largest on record with millions more set to tune into Tv coverage.

The New Year’s Eve fireworks were saved after an eleventh hour deal between the rail unions and the NSW government last week.

Revellers had been worried about the threatened cancellation of the fireworks due to train strikes amid an ongoing wage battle.

A Christmas Eve hearing fizzled out with the Fair Work Commission agreeing the union had dropped enough action for there to be a negligible risk to the New Year’s celebrations.

Thousands of Aussies have turned up to vantage points across Sydney Harbour ahead of the fireworks.

Wild footage captured the moment hundreds of Australians raced to get the best spot at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney.

‘Shame on whoever started to run and break the ropes,’ the caption read.

Eager revellers were seen carrying camping equipment and bags as they ran across the park and under a boundary rope.

Social media users were quick to slam the crowd.

‘I honestly couldn’t think of anything worse,’ one wrote.

Another added: ‘Are they going to sit there all day to wait for fireworks tonight? No thanks.’