Bilateral relations exist between

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. Australia has an embassy in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. The Netherlands has an embassy in

Canberra Canberra ( ; ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the Federation of Australia, federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's list of cities in Australia, largest in ...

. The two countries communicate and cooperate on a range of issues, including counterterrorism, climate change, human rights, and the

Millennium Development Goals In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These w ...

. In 2001 the countries signed an agreement on

social security Welfare spending is a type of government support intended to ensure that members of a society can meet basic human needs such as food and shelter. Social security may either be synonymous with welfare, or refer specifically to social insurance ...

for those who have lived or worked in both countries. During the period 1947–1971 about 160,000 Dutch people emigrated to Australia, and as of 2006 there are around 90,000 Australians of Dutch descent.

History

During the period 1606–1770, Dutch seafarers visited Australia numerous times. The first recorded European sighting of the Australian mainland, and the first recorded European landfall on the Australian continent (in 1606), are attributed to the Dutch. The first ship and crew to chart the Australian coast and meet with Aboriginal people was the ''

Duyfken ''Duyfken'' (; ), also in the form ''Duifje'' or spelled ''Duifken'' or ''Duijfken'', was a small ship built in the Dutch Republic. She was a fast, lightly armed ship probably intended for shallow water, small valuable cargoes, bringing messages ...

'' captained by Dutch navigator,

Willem Janszoon Willem Janszoon (; ) was a Dutch navigator and colonial governor. He served in the Dutch East Indies in the periods 1603–1611 and 1612–1616, including as governor of Fort Henricus on the island of Solor. During his voyage of 1605–1606 ...

. The Dutch charted the whole of the western and northern coastlines and named the island continent " New Holland" during the 17th century, but made no attempt at settlement. Other Dutch explorers include

Abel Tasman Abel Janszoon Tasman (; 160310 October 1659) was a Dutch sea explorer, seafarer and exploration, explorer, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). He was the first European to reach New ...

and

Willem de Vlamingh Willem Hesselsz de Vlamingh (baptized 28 November 1640 – after 7 August 1702) was a Dutch sea captain who explored the central west coast of New Holland (Australia) in the late 17th century, where he landed in what is now Perth on the Swan ...

. During and immediately post the second world war, the

Netherlands East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies (; ), was a Dutch Empire, Dutch colony with territory mostly comprising the modern state of Indonesia, which Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, declared independence on 17 Au ...

government-in-exile A government-in-exile (GiE) is a political group that claims to be the legitimate government of a sovereign state or semi-sovereign state, but is unable to exercise legal power and instead resides in a foreign country. Governments in exile usu ...

, was stationed in Wacol, Queensland, and the Netherlands Indies Government Information Service in Melbourne, with the agreement of the then Labor Australian government. Australia was planned as the staging post for re-imposition of colonial rule in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

. However, Australian maritime unions did much to frustrate this, with bans on manning/loading/coaling from September 1946 to a final ending of all bans in July 1949. Historically, diplomatic issues have arisen over

West New Guinea Western New Guinea, also known as Papua, Indonesian New Guinea, and Indonesian Papua, is the western half of the island of New Guinea, formerly Dutch and granted to Indonesia in 1962. Given the island is alternatively named Papua, the region ...

, and

's independence from the Netherlands (with Australia recognising the Indonesian Republic on 9 July 1947). In 1955, Prime Minister

Robert Menzies The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

visited the Netherlands to discuss the issue of West Papua with Dutch officials including the Prime Minister of the Netherlands

Willem Drees Willem Drees Sr. (; 5 July 1886 – 14 May 1988) was a Dutch politician of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (Netherlands), Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP) and later co-founder of the Labour Party (Netherlands), Labour Party (PvdA) ...

and Foreign Minister

Joseph Luns Joseph Marie Antoine Hubert Luns (; 28 August 191117 July 2002) was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP), now merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA), diplomat, and jurist. He is the longest serving Secreta ...

Resident diplomatic missions

* Australia has an embassy in

. * The Netherlands has an embassy in

and an consulate-general in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. File:Embassies of Australia and Malta in The Hague 2010.jpg, Embassy of Australia in The Hague File:East face of the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Australia December 2013.jpg, Embassy of the Netherlands in Canberra

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Australia-Netherlands relations

Bilateral relations of the Netherlands

History

Resident diplomatic missions

See also

References