The Victorian Government will hold an inquiry into its deadly bushfires as smoke from the blazes left the state with some of the worst air quality in the world.
In Melbourne, a Slovenian tennis player was forced out of her Australian Open qualifying match because of a coughing fit brought on by the hazardous smoke haze.
By night it resembled a picture-postcard foggy Melbourne scene.
But as morning broke, the haze was revealed as one of the thickest smoke clouds the Victorian capital has experienced this summer.
According to Victorian chief health officer Dr Brett Sutton, air quality...plunged to new lows.
The smoke forced Slovenian tennis player Dalila Jakupovic out of her Australian Open qualifying match because of a coughing fit, as well as the closure of building sites and the abandonment of a major horse racing meeting.
Greens Deputy Leader Adam Bandt says Australians are paying the price for a lack of action on climate change.
The haze posing significant health issues for the vulnerable - like emphysema sufferer and Aboriginal elder Uncle Talgium Edwards.
