For months Australia has endured the most prolonged and destructive bushfire emergency in memory.

From the rainforests of Queensland and Northern New South Wales to the Blue Mountains, from the Adelaide Hills to Gippsland in Victoria, from Tasmania to Western Australia, at least 17 lives and more than 1,000 homes have been lost, while an area as big as Belgium has been reduced to ash.

Joe O'Brien presents a New Year's Day edition of 7.30, to bring you special coverage of the unprecedented bushfire crisis.

Read more here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-0...

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