Dundee Beach is a locality in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

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 ...

, located approximately southwest of the territory capital of Darwin. The

2016 Australian census The 2016 Australian census was the 17th Census in Australia, national population census held in Australia. The census was officially conducted with effect on Tuesday, 9 August 2016. The total population of the Commonwealth of Australia was count ...

which was conducted in August 2016 reported Dundee Beach's population to be 207.

Geography

Dundee Beach consists of land bounded by the coast of Fog Bay in the west and a subsidiary inlet of

Bynoe Harbour __NOTOC__ Bynoe Harbour is a locality in the Northern Territory of Australia located about south-west of the territory capital of Darwin. Bynoe Harbour consists of the full extent of the natural harbour of Bynoe Harbour which extends in an ea ...

in the east and the waters to the west of the coastline for a distance of .

Name

Dundee Beach and the other two nearby localities prefixed with the name "Dundee" are named after the sub-divisions with these names. The name "Dundee" is believed to be derived from the 1986 film, ''

Crocodile Dundee ''Crocodile Dundee'' is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee and American actress Linda Kozlowski as reporter Sue Charlton. Inspired by the true-life ex ...

''. The boundaries for Dundee Beach were gazetted on 29 October 1997 with the gazettal being revoked on 3 April 2007 with new boundaries being gazetted on 4 April 2007.

History

Development in the area began in the 1990s, originally as a weekend retreat for Darwin residents. The local economy is still largely dependent on tourism, with fishing being the main attraction. Community services and amenities include a small school established in 1998, a volunteer fire brigade and several sporting and social clubs.

Swivel gun discovery

One of Australia's earliest artifacts of European origin was found by a 13-year-old school boy on Dundee Beach in 2010. Initially believed to be a Portuguese

Swivel gun A swivel gun (or simply swivel) is a small cannon mounted on a swiveling stand or fork which allows a very wide arc of movement. Another type of firearm referred to as a swivel gun was an early flintlock combination gun with two barrels that rot ...

dating from the 1500s, the discovery prompted international media attention and renewed speculation about early Portuguese exploration of Australia prior to the arrival of

Captain Cook Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 1768 and 1779. He complet ...

on the East Coast in 1770. However this claim has been disputed by the

Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory The Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory (MAGNT) is the main museum in the Northern Territory. The headquarters of the museum is located in the inner Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin suburb of The Gardens, Northern Territory, The ...

following analysis of sand inside the gun's barrel dating it closer to 1750. The museum instead speculated it was likely dropped overboard by

Makassan Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and Ba ...

traders who were known to visit the area to harvest

Sea cucumber Sea cucumbers are echinoderms from the class (biology), class Holothuroidea ( ). They are benthic marine animals found on the sea floor worldwide, and the number of known holothuroid species worldwide is about 1,786, with the greatest number be ...

and trade with local Aboriginal peoples. This indicates the gun was more likely a copy of a Dutch or Portuguese design, manufactured in South East Asia.

Governance

Dundee Beach is located within the federal division of Lingiari, the territory electoral division of

Daly A disability-adjusted life year (DALY) is a measure of overall disease burden, representing a year lost due to ill-health, disability, or early death. It was developed in the 1990s as a way of comparing the overall health and life expectancy of d ...

and the unincorporated areas of the Northern Territory. The possibility of Dundee Beach and adjoining localities being included in an expanded

Coomalie Shire The Coomalie Community Government Council is a Local government in Australia, local government area in Australia's Northern Territory, situated south of Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The counc ...

was discussed in 2009 without any decisive outcome. However, a poll of residents carried out in 2012 showed that a majority were in favour of retaining the unincorporated area status. Currently, the Dundee Progress Association, a volunteer association, represents the interests of residents in the locality and those in

(sic), Dundee Downs and Dundee Forest to the organizations including the

Northern Territory Government The Northern Territory Government is the executive branch of the Northern Territory. The Government of Northern Territory was formed in 1978 with the granting of self-government to the Territory. The Northern Territory is a territory of the Co ...

References

{{reflist Beaches of the Northern Territory Populated places in the Northern Territory Places in the unincorporated areas of the Northern Territory