Is it really 400 years since first contact was made with Australia?

As far as we know. Historical records refer to the voyage of the Duyfken to west Cape York in about March 1606 and they made a chart of the coastline there. A few months later Torres led an expedition through Torres Strait, establishing Australia was separate from New Guinea.

So the Duyfken discovered Australia?

The original Australians discovered Australia, the ancestors of our current Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Luis de Torres in San Pedro, like Willem Janszoon in Duyfken, were the first recorded European mariners to sail into Australian waters. Both came in 1606.

Didn’t the Chinese come here way before the Duyfken?

There is no sustainable evidence that this was the case. There is a theory that this could have happened. In fact there are many such claims that others preceded Janszoon in the Duyfken and Torres in San Pedro, the Spanish, the Portuguese, French, even the Phoenicians. Few historians support such claims, relying instead on the clearly documented voyages of Janszoon and Torres.

Why should Australians care about the visit of the Duyfken in 1606?

People understand that landmarks are important, be it a personal one like your birthday, or a national one such as is being commemorated in 2006. They recognize historic moments in time that are an integral part of the Australian story, where does it start, who we are and where we come from.

Why is an understanding of the unveiling of our continent so important?

We know that Indigenous Australians first arrive in Australia well over 40,000 years ago. But the first records of Australia and its history flow from new knowledge gained by people from countries who came here and revealed that there is land, a continent here. Without such documentation, some record, of the existence of that land, starting with our coasts, no-one else would be aware Australia was here, no further exploration would have taken place, no colonies founded, no nation could have grown. Consequently it is a fundamental starting point of what gave rise to today’s Australia.

Why did it take over 200 years from the time of that first visit before a more or less complete map of our continent was published?

The mapping and unveiling of Australia’s coastline and the continent itself has a rich and complex history that began with the visit of the Duyfken in 1606. But no one great expedition charted Australia, it was revealed little by little in 51 episodes where mariners mapped portions of the coast until virtually complete maps were produced in 1811 (French) and 1814 (English).

How come so few Australians know about the Duyfken coming in 1606?

Few Australians are aware of that Janszoon sailed to Australia, making contact and charting part of west Cape York. This is because the teaching of our early history has been very muddled. When you ask people who were the first outsiders to come to Australia, particularly the European explorers, you get answers such as Tasman, Dirk Hartog, Captain Cook, even William Dampier. This has been compounded by a focus in Australian history on later explorers, such as Captain Cook, and events like the First Fleet.

What is the meaning of the “Australia on the Map” theme?

The “Australia on the Map” theme was decided upon at a very early stage at the suggestion of Vice President Allen Mawer. It reflects the fact that the Duyfken made a chart, copies of which still exist, of west Cape York in 1606. The world at large only became aware of our continent when that chart was incorporated into regional maps, such as the Gerritsz Map of 1622. The theme was chosen as well because it acknowledges each state as it was added to the growing outline of Australia, some from a very early stage. Apart from Queensland in 1606, WA was first represented in 1616, NT in 1623, SA in 1627, Tasmania in 1642 and finally Victoria and NSW in 1770. However, the theme is intended to be inclusive not only of the states but all the different peoples who participated in some way in the process on unveiling Australia, the Dutch, Indigenous Australians, Spanish, Macassans from Indonesia, French, English, Swedish and so on. It embraces the fact that we are not only a multi-cultural society but also have a multi-cultural history

Is there a historical link between Willem Janszoon and James Cook?

Yes. Both contributed to the mapping of Australia. Janszoon started the process, Cook made a major contribution in chart most of the east coast of Australia. In all there were 51 different episodes of charting that contributed to the final map of Australia,

While the Duyfken may have been the first European ship to come here why do most Australians think nothing really happened until Captain Cook and the First Fleet came along?

History can be a complex narrative. People like to simplify it and focus on the dramatic events and embrace the heroes of the hour. Until the end of the Second World War, Australia had a predominantly British heritage. Since the war that has changed and we are now a multicultural society. There is a growing realization that we also have a multicultural history that begins well before Captain Cook and the First Fleet, important as they are. Furthermore, it was not until 1925, when a copy of the chart made by the Duyfken was discovered, that we were sure that this ship, and its Captain Willem Janszoon, really had first visited in 1606. This fact, and the richness of our early history, is only starting to filter through now. “Australia on the Map: 1606 – 2006” is a way of bringing this all together and acknowledging that many others apart form Captain Cook and the First Fleet had a significant role in the unveiling of Australia and in the making of our nation.