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Exactly 125 years ago, on 3 September 1901, the Australian National Flag was flown for the first time. It was raised over the Melbourne Exhibition Building in front of the Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, and thousands of proud Australians who, just months earlier, had voted to unite as a nation. The design came from an open competition. More than 30,000 entries were sent in, and the £200 prize was shared between five people who had all arrived at much the same idea. One of them was a Melbourne schoolboy named Ivor Evans. At just thirteen when he drew the design and fourteen by the time he won, Ivor stood among the crowd that day to watch history being made. That's why we celebrate National Flag Day each year on 3 September. The story of how we got our flag is just as significant as the design. Our flag was not handed down to us by politicians or people in positions of power. It came from ordinary Australians, people willing to step forward and have a go. Evans went on to become a successful businessman, and he never forgot the flag or what it meant. In 1951, for the fiftieth anniversary of Federation, he wrote to Prime Minister Robert Menzies suggesting that every school in the country be given an Australian flag. More than 10,000 flags went out. I have carried on that tradition here in my electorate of Bowman. We have given out hundreds of Australian flags, and in previous years, with the support of generous donors, provided kits so people could mount them properly on their homes through our initiative Operation Flagbearer.

Our flag is a part of who we are as a nation, and importantly, it is protected by legislation. In 1998, the Howard Government changed the law to stop our flag from being changed at the whim of politicians, government departments, or activists. It can only be changed by a vote of the Australian people. #Our flag is protected. It is what our soldiers fought for and what many of them died for. It unites us, and it is a reminder that we live in the greatest country on earth. 🇦🇺Fly it proudly today.🇦🇺 #HenryPikeMP @HenryPikeMP