Flag of New Zealand the Labour Party at their national conference. In November 1979 Minister of Internal Affairs Allan Highet suggested that the design of the flag should be changed, and sought an artist to design a new flag with a silver fern on the fly, but the proposal attracted little support. In March 1994 Prime Minister Jim Bolger made statements supporting a move towards a republic. In response Christian Democrat MP Graeme Lee introduced a Flags, Anthems, Emblems, and Names Protection Amendment Bill. If passed, the Bill would have entrenched the Act that governs the flag and added New Zealand's anthems, requiring a
New Zealand flag debate and decide on a final shortlist of four suitable options for the first referendum. Public consultation took place between May and June 2015. As part of the public engagement process, flag designs and symbolism/value suggestions were solicited until 16 July, which resulted in a total of 10,292 design suggestions. From the submitted designs, the Flag Consideration Panel selected an initial longlist of 40 (publicly revealed on 10 August), then a final shortlist of 4 (publicly revealed on 1 September) to contend in the first referendum. After public disappointment with the official shortlist, a social media campaign aimed to add the