If ever there was a time for a corgi get together in Canberra, it's when the Commonwealth celebrates the Queen's Jubilee.
About 15 of the Queen's favourite breed gathered on the lawns of Old Parliament House on Saturday, as the Prime Minister presided over the renaming of Canberra's Aspen Island.
Niccola Hardaker said there were around 240 people in her Canberra corgi group, with 30 to 40 meeting regularly to socialise their little pals.
Ms Hardaker, who has three, said she could see why the Queen stuck with the cattle-herding corgi.
"They've got a fantastic sense of humour, which is a funny thing to say about a dog, but they really are comedians in dog bodies," she said.
"And all the intelligence and force of personality required for dogs of this size to be able to move hundreds of kilos of cattle around."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese marked the Queen's 70 years in service by changing the name of Aspen Island to Queen Elizabeth II Island.
The decision to rename the artificial landmark, located on the south-eastern side of Lake Burley Griffin, was announced by former prime minister Scott Morrison on New Year's Day.
The location is home to the 57-bell Australian National Carillon, built in 1970 as a gift from Great Britain.
Mr Albanese, whose newly installed government has appointed the nation's first assistant minister for the republic, said the Queen had stood with Australia as a "true and steadfast friend, through the good times and also the hard times".
"Indeed, she has been constant in our ever-changing world, a singular figure who has reigned through some of the most profound moments of the post-war era, through some of the greatest turning points in modern history," he said.
The prime minister noted the Carillon bells chimed every quarter hour as "an echo of Big Ben" at London's Houses of Parliament.
"Like Canberra itself, like this lake, this island, the Carillon was an act of imagination, a touchstone of both tradition and progress," Mr Albanese said on Saturday.
"Her majesty said at the time, the bells' harmony will be a reminder of the enduring ties of kinship between Britain and Australia and, indeed, they have been."
In a speech marking the Queen's 70 years on the throne on Thursday, the prime minister said Australians held her in respect and affection, even though the bond with Britain was not what it was when she assumed her title in February 1952.
Landmarks across the country, including Parliament House and the Sydney Opera House, have this week been lit in royal purple to mark the Jubilee, which is being held over four days.
Australia's Governor-General David Hurley hosted a Zoom call with the Queen and the nation's 2022 Australian of the Year award recipients on May 9 as part of the commemorations.
The call coincided with the exact day the monarch opened Parliament House in Canberra 34 years earlier, a milestone Mr Hurley reminded her of.
"I don't know whether it's still there but there's a little pond inside. I wondered how many people had fallen into it," the Queen said.
The duo were joined on the call by Australian of the Year and retired wheelchair tennis champion Dylan Alcott, Senior Australian of the Year Valmai Dempsey, Local Hero Shanna Whan and Young Australian of the Year Dr Daniel Nour.
- with AAP
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