HMAS Eyre has been welcomed to Port Lincoln in South Australia with a freedom of entry parade. The ship's navigator, Lieutenant Katie Webb, led the procession, having grown up in the city and spent time at sea on her father's fishing boat. Mayor Diana Mislov presented the scroll granting the honour to commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Amy Brauns. Hundreds of people watched the parade along Tasman Terrace. The ship is expected to depart on Sunday afternoon and deploy to the north-west shelf in six to eight weeks.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Michele Bullock will give the occasional address at a University of New England graduation ceremony in Armidale on Friday, 23 October. The ceremony begins at 10:30am in Lazenby Hall, moved indoors due to wet weather, and will be live streamed. Ms Bullock graduated from UNE in 1984 and was named the UNE Distinguished Alumni Award recipient in 2025. About 450 students will graduate over three ceremonies on 22 and 23 October.
Mornington Peninsula Shire will grant Freedom of Entry to HMAS Cerberus at a ceremonial parade in Mornington on Saturday 31 October. The parade starts at 9.30am and will be led by the base's commanding officers, accompanied by the Royal Australian Navy Band. Personnel will march along Main Street, with Victoria Police also taking part. The event is free and open to the public, and Main Street and nearby roads will be temporarily closed during the parade. Mayor Stephen Batty said the ceremony recognises the connection between the community and those who serve.
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Moonee Valley City Council, with Essendon RSL Sub-branch, will hold a Remembrance Day commemoration ceremony at the Cenotaph in Queens Park, Moonee Ponds. The ceremony is set for Wednesday 11 November at 10.30am.
Representatives from the Australian Defence Force, the Kingaroy-Memerambi RSL Sub-Branch and South Burnett Regional Council met in Kingaroy to discuss a possible Freedom Of Entry celebration in late 2027. The original plan was for the Carbarlah signals unit to exercise its right of entry to Kingaroy, marking ten years since the 2017 grant. Mayor Kathy Duff wants other South Burnett towns involved. The revised proposal is a celebration at Kingaroy's Memorial Park, with buses bringing former personnel from across the region.
Eighteen people from South Gippsland officially became Australian citizens at a ceremony on Wednesday evening in the Leongatha Memorial Hall. The new citizens came from countries including Sweden, India, Israel, the Philippines and the United Kingdom, while one was born in Australia. Their reasons for moving to the region included its strong community, rural lifestyle and natural beauty. Among them was Monico Buan Cosning, a nurse who came from the Philippines in 2022 and now works at Woorayl Lodge in Leongatha.
