<span style="color: #222222;">Australia has followed New Zealand by welcoming in 2020 with a bang, despite calls for it to cancel its capital's fireworks as the country's bushfire crisis continues. Critics had argued that the wrong message would be sent if the Sydney display went ahead but the city's Lord Mayor said it would give hope to people at a terrible time.<br />'' <br />''<br />''Earlier, Auckland became the world's first major city to celebrate the start of the new decade.</span><br />