Competition hot for Gallipoli ballot

Australians have responded with enthusiasm to the chance to secure a place at Anzac Day commemorations at Gallipoli in 2015.

The ballot for a place opened on November 15 and the Department of Veterans Affairs said that, as of Monday, there had been 15,527 applications to go into the ballot.

Numbers at the site are capped at 10,500 and there will be 8000 places for Australians.

There will also be 2000 places for New Zealanders and up to 500 official representatives of all the nations involved in the Gallipoli campaign.

Of the 8000 places for Australians, 3000 double passes will be for the general public.

There will be 400 double passes for direct descendants of Gallipoli veterans and 400 double passes for eligible veterans of all conflicts.

Another 400 individual passes will be for secondary schoolchildren and chaperones.

The department noted that the applications received could include incomplete, inaccurate or multiple applications.

The ballot is open until 9pm WA time on January 31, with successful applicants notified in March.

·The interpretive centre being built on Mt Adelaide in Albany has been named the National Anzac Centre.

Anzac Centre Implementation Committee chairman Richard Muirhead said the committee had agreed it was important that the centre had a name to reflect its national significance.

The centre will be officially opened on November 1, the centenary of the departure from Albany of thousands of Australian and New Zealand troops for Egypt and then Gallipoli.