AFTER 4500 doodles, Google has just announced the winning doodle of the Doodle 4 Google competition “My Future Australia”.

School pupils across the country rushed to draw their own version of the Google logo at the lead of having their entry featured on google.com.au on Australia Day, 2012.

The winner, chosen by the original Google doodler Dennis Hwang, was  Timothy Winkel of Padua College Mornington in Victoria, whose winning doodle looked forward to an Australia with  more National Parks and a cleaner, protected environment.

“Sometimes nature is such a good refuge that I escape my own self,” he wrote. “The environment saves me, so I am responsible enough to save it.”

Ineka Voigt of Florey Primary School, ACT, won in the year 4-6 category for her entry “Reaching Out” and wrote: “I decided that I would show two hands reaching out in a sign of ongoing respect.”

Other winners were:  “My Future Australia” by Christina Nguyen (years 9-10) Cerdon College, NSW and “Renewable Energy for the Future” by Damian Haynes (Years 1-3) from Scotch College Junior School, WA.

Damian, Timothy and Christina were given a behind-the-scenes tour of the of the National Portrait Gallery and its exhibitions and had their portraits taken by the gallery’s resident photographer Mark Mohell. They also viewed their work in a digital display of the 32 Doodle state and territory winners.

Ineka, missed the morning tour because of an emergency appendectomy but came directly from hospital to accept her trophy in the afternoon.

The NPG will arrange her own personal tour of the gallery when she’s feeling up to it.