Perth saves its big fireworks display for Australia Day but crowds still gathered on the foreshore and in Kings Park to watch fireworks over the Swan river.
"It's just lighthearted to kick off the day," he said in comfortably the most entertaining of the post-match press conferences in Perth.
The city's music lovers were missing out: for this Perth festival show, Michael Barenboim, 27-year-old son of Daniel and concertmaster of the groundbreaking West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, augmented the Academy's line-up.
We are in that phase of the fight now in Perth.
The acting chief of the Australian defence force, vice admiral Ray Griggs, told the same hearing that HMAS Perth was in the western part of the South China Sea.
After two defeats in two against the hosts so far, a win in Perth would go a long way to instilling belief into the team before their World Cup opener against the same opponents in Melbourne on Valentine's Day.
Tens of thousands were expected at the main celebrations in Canberra's city centre, where the Perth rock band Eskimo Joe joined local acts for a free concert.
More than 10,000 people were expected to ring in the new year from Perth cultural precinct in Northbridge, where two stages hosted a variety of bands and performances.
The Saints forward struck the outside of the post when through on goal in the first period and Gary McDonald also passed up a golden chance for the Perth side before Dons defender Andrew Considine hit the bar with a header.
He appeared to rule out the possibility of England looking to the future when selecting the team for the remaining two Tests in Melbourne and Sydney, now that the Ashes have gone, and looking to introduce more youth following the stunning success of Ben Stokes on his second Test appearance in Perth.
The relative number of centuries, seven to Australia against Ben Stokes' magnificent effort in Perth, can be misleading( as it was in 2009) because four of those came in the second innings with a significant lead already.
