NSW state of emergency declared as 17 missing in Victoria bushfires – as it happened
At least nine people have died since Christmas Day, with the RFS urging people to evacuate the New South Wales south coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend
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9.06am GMT
Just as we close, the New Daily is reporting that an elderly woman has died after going into "respiratory distress" when she arrived on a domestic Qantas flight in Canberra, where air pollution levels have again been at many times hazardous levels today. We'll have more on that later when details have been confirmed.
8.52am GMT
That's where we'll end our coverage today, but we'll be back again tomorrow.
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