Dutch Australians

Dutch Australians refers to Australians with full or partial Dutch ancestry. They form one of the largest groups of the Dutch diaspora outside Europe.

History
The history of the Dutch and Australia began in 1606 with Captain Willem Janszoon, a Dutch seafarer, who landed on Australian soil, the first European to do so.

The Dutch East India Company (VOC) operated mainly from Batavia (modern-day Jakarta). The journey from the Netherlands to the Dutch East Indies would take more than a year by traditional route, but after the discovery of the Roaring Forties by Dutch captain Hendrick Brouwer, the voyage could be cut short by a number of months if navigated properly. However, miscalculations made it easy for ships to become lost on this new course. Some ships (exact figures unknown) travelled too far east and sighted the Australian west coast, and number of them were wrecked on coral reefs and cliffs, known hazards of the "Southland". A few well-known ships wrecked off the coast are the Zuytdorp and the Zeewijk. A notorious example is the wreck of the Batavia on Houtman Abrolhos during her maiden voyage, after which Jeronimus Corneliszoon led a bloody mutiny. Dirk Hartog marked his landing with a pewter plate. The most famous Dutch seafarer to explore the Australian coasts is Abel Tasman, after whom Tasmania was eventually named. Tasman originally named it Van Diemen's Land. With the exception of the east coast, most of the Australian coastline was first charted by Dutch mariners. Australia was thus known as New Holland from the seventeenth until the early-nineteenth century.

20th century
A number of people from the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) found their way to Australia during World War II and joined Allied forces in the fight against the Japanese. The Dutch East Indies government operated from Australia during the war. Free Dutch Submarines operated out of Fremantle after the invasion of Java. The joint No. 18 and No. 120 RAAF squadrons formed at Canberra, and was a combined Dutch and Australian Squadron. It used B-25 Mitchell bombers, supplied by the Dutch Government before the war. The Netherlands East Indies Forces Intelligence Service (NEFIS) was based in Melbourne during the war.

Post-war settlers in Australia arrived as part of Australia's assisted migration program. Many arrived by sea on the MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, while others flew with KLM.

Demographics
According to 2006 census data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 310,089 people claimed Dutch ancestry, full or partial, and 78,927 people declared they were born in the Netherlands. The level of immigration from the Netherlands has dropped significantly since the 1980s. 79% of Australian residents born in the Netherlands arrived before 1980. The Dutch-born population is also ageing; 52% of the Dutch-born population was aged sixty years old or older in 2006. 26,141 Dutch-born Australians (33%) speak Dutch at home; lots more speak English at home (64%). Proficiency in English was described by census respondents as "very well" by 27%, "well" by 7%, and "not well" by less than 1%. Of Australian residents born in the Netherlands, 59,502 (75%) were Australian citizens. 61% of Dutch-born Australians recorded their religion as Christian, and 29% were irreligious.

Notable Dutch Australians

 * Brendon Ah Chee, Australian rules footballer
 * Callum Ah Chee, Australian rules footballer
 * Beeb Birtles, musician
 * Andrew Bolt, political commentator
 * Dirk Bolt, architect
 * Stephanie Brantz, sports presenter
 * Paul Cox, filmmaker
 * Guillaume Daniel Delprat
 * Joe de Bruyn
 * Dick Dusseldorp, filmmaker
 * John Elferink
 * Joanna Gash
 * Kurt Lambeck, geophysicist and glaciologist
 * Rolf de Heer, filmmaker
 * Chris Hemsworth, actor
 * Liam Hemsworth, actor
 * Annita Keating van Iersel
 * Willy Lust, athlete
 * Gerlof Mees, ornithologist, curator, and ichthyologist
 * Dirk Nannes
 * Jan Ruff O'Herne, human rights activist
 * Nonja Peters
 * Eric Roozendaal
 * Roy Rene, comedian & vaudevillian
 * Alexander Smits
 * Harry Vanda
 * Timm van der Gugten, cricketer
 * Paul van der Haar
 * Alfred van der Poorten, number theorist
 * Peter van Onselen, author & academic
 * Bert van Manen
 * Tammy van Wisse
 * Johnny Young
 * Gus Winckel, military officer and pilot
 * Richard Woldendorp, photographer
 * John van Lieshout, Queensland's richest person, from furniture stores and real estate development