OCTOBER
House Minister Danny Pearson announced a $36 million grant to build social housing across Geelong, providing up to 90 homes and creating 234 jobs.
White Night Geelong attracted 93,000 people to Geelong’s CBD in a celebration of music, art, culture and community.
Emissary took out the Geelong Cup on a day marked by perfect weather and attended by around 12,000.
After public backlash, the City of Greater Geelong amended its Urban Design Framework for Highton Village, backing down on allowing three- and four-storey developments.
NOVEMBER
Despite enduring their busiest six-month period on record, Geelong paramedics started reducing ambulance response times for the first time since July-September 2020.
The state government announced Geelong would host the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in 2026.
Trent Sullivan was elected unopposed as Geelong’s mayor, replacing Peter Murrihy who was in the job for the five months following Stephanie Asher’s resignation.
Geelong Cats bowed out of the AFLW premiership race, losing their elimination final to North Melbourne.
Labor held all four districts in the Geelong region as Daniel Andrews returned as Premier in a convincing victory over the Liberal/National Coalition.
DECEMBER
Epworth Hospital announced the likely closure of its maternity department, catching existing staff and patients, as well as mums-to-be, by surprise and prompting petitions and protests throughout December.
A judge found that Haig Arslanian’s fatal shooting of his brother at their Geelong family home in October 2020 was a reasonable act of self-defence.
Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng won two gold medals at Torquay’s Beach Pro Tour beach volleyball tournament.
The Lara community was devastated when Peter Cochran, 74, and Elihjohn O’Donnell, 11, died in an intense house fire in Lara. Elihjohn’s 10-year-old brother, Braxton, managed to escape the blaze.
