HAVING proud and patriotic schools is what Parkes MP Mark Coulton attributes to spending almost $10,000 on flags from July 1 to December 31, 2014.
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As politician expenditure comes under increasing scrutiny, highlighted by former Speaker Bronwyn Bishop resigning on Sunday afternoon following her expenses scandal, Mr Coulton declares he is pleased to have spent $9611.32 on flags across a six-month period.
Mr Coulton said it demonstrated schools, organisations and the general public in his electorate were people who stood for something.
"I know there has been a lot of attention recently about politicians and entitlements, but I think it's a good thing people want to fly the flag in the Parkes electorate," he said.
"I don't feel any concern about the number I give out, people are proud of the flag and I encourage people to get one.
"We have one outside the Dubbo office, but I am essentially an agent for the federal government, I'm not keeping them for myself, if a community group or individual have a legitimate reason they can get one."
When comparing the expenditure on flags to the neighbouring Calare electorate, Mr Coulton has spent $6417.69 more than MP John Cobb.
Mr Coulton cites the spread-out nature of his electorate, which has many small schools as the main reason why he has given away so many more flags.
"Every school needs a flag whether they have 300 students or three students," he said.
"With there being so many smaller towns with smaller schools in my electorate, along with other community groups that want a flag, that would be a major reason why."
Along with the Australian flag, Mr Coulton also has the Aboriginal flag and Torres Strait Islander flag to give to away.
"We give a lot of Aboriginal flags and Torres Strait Islander flags away during NAIDOC Week which is great," he told the Daily Liberal.
"There is a cap in place for expenditure on flags and once we reached that we weren't able to give anymore away so unfortunately some people missed out.
"But now that we have moved past June 30, we should be fine again."