His mother, Rachel Cook, went into labour on Sunday and she thought she was having a Valentine’s Day baby.

But little Travis had other ideas.

The 4.3-kilogram miracle came agonisingly close to becoming the 24-millionth Australian.

The one-day-old was born at 9.52pm on Monday night – three hours before the official population clocked over the 24-million mark.

Ms Cook and her partner Scott McMahon were smitten by their bundle of joy.

“He’s been so good, he only woke last night for feeds,” the new mother said.

The Bureau of Statistics’ population clock hit 24 million at 12.51am on Tuesday morning. 

It has only taken two years, nine months and two days to add one million people to our population.

The Bureau of Statistics in 1999 predicted the national population to hit 24 million in 2033.

A number of factors have contributed to the acceleration of Australian residents, including improving life expectancy and a mini baby boom in the last decade.

A rate of two babies per woman were born in the latter part of the 2000s.

But for Travis and his mother and father, a new chapter in their lives begins today.