Benalla and district celebrated Australia Day on Sunday, January 26, with community events held across the region.
Local townships joined the Rose City in honouring their achievers of the year for 2025 at community breakfasts.
The Scouts and Guides were guests of honour at Benalla’s Community Breakfast, taking charge of the annual flag-raising ceremony.
During breakfast, the Rose City Band provided music, including a patriotic rendition of Advance Australia Fair.
Over in Thoona, about 40-50 locals were there to see Phil Irvine raise the flag.
The crowd there was entertained by Boweya local Doug James, who told the story of Captain James Cook’s travels before and after landing in Australia.
The big events of the day were the Benalla Rural City Australia Day award presentations and citizenship ceremony held at the Town Hall.
Hosted by Benalla’s Brad Hearn the event honoured the people and groups that make the Rose City one of the best places to call home in Victoria.
The Community Achievers had come in from their townships to be recognised once again.
Community Achievers of the year 2025:
- Benalla: Justin Daw.
- Goorambat: Bev Morton.
- Devenish: Rhonda Lowe.
- Molyullah: Michele Ramage.
- Swanpool/Lima: Nick Henderson.
- Tatong: Terry O’Brien.
And after months of nominations, and some very difficult decisions by the Australia Day committee, the winners of the Benalla Rural City Australia Day Awards were announced:
- Citizen of the Year - Michelle Ramage.
- Junior Citizen of the Year - Mikayla Borredale.
- Community event/project of the year - The Walk for Mental Health: Alex Briggs, Andrew Noyes, Mikayla Borredale, Sophie Winkler and Erin Jenkins.
- Community Group of the Year - The Tomorrow Today Foundation.
Ms Ramage, who had already taken out the Molyullah Achiever of the Year, was nominated in the Citizen of the Year category for her inspiring legacy of service and leadership.
She has been a driving force behind countless local initiatives, from her dedication to the Molyullah Hall and Sports Committee, to her volunteer work, particularly on local events like the Molyullah Easter Sports.
She is also a former campus principal at Benalla’s Flexible Learning Centre.
Ms Ramage was met on stage by last year’s Benalla Citizen of the Year, Jenny Wapling.
She said being a Scout leader, Jenny was much better prepared for the honour in 2024, adding she may have to ad-lib her acceptance speech.
“This is beyond belief for me,” Ms Ramage said.
“Thank you to Benalla Rural City for putting on such a wonderful day, and also for assisting the Molyullah community when we’ve applied for grants.”
Ms Ramage said a recent grant had allowed the community to build a shaded structure at the community hall, which was used during its Australia Day breakfast, keeping attendees out of the hot sun.
“We also applied for a grant for a playground to be put in,” she said.
“We now have a wonderful playground for our kids.”
Mikayla Borredale ventured on stage to rapturous applause.
“Thank you to whoever nominated me, it’s incredible to be up here,” she said.
“I’m very grateful.”
The event had begun with Benalla’s five newest Australians taking part in their citizenship ceremony.
They were Roslin Bensily, Fr Vijay Bandanadam, Shovan Chakma, Gillian Seeliger and Ann Wilson.
Mr Chakma said he had been waiting for this day for more than five years.
“It’s really exciting,” he said.
“I’m from Bangladesh originally, and the weather, the people, the culture is all different.
“I love it here, Australia Day is a big event, and this time I’m now an Australian.”