Netherlands and Australia celebrate 400 years of ties

THE HAGUE – The uninterrupted - warm - relations between the Netherlands and Australia go all the way back to the 1606 landing of a group of sailors from Dutch ship Duyfken on the shores of what later became known as Australia. The 400th anniversary of Captain Janszoon’s landing recently was celebrated in The Hague with a dinner attended by the Dutch Crown Prince and his wife, Australian and Dutch cabinet ministers and other dignitaries as well as a number of prominent citizens from both countries. The anniversary will be celebrated throughout the year in both the Netherlands and Australia, which will host Prince Willem-Alexander and Princess Máxima during their visit in the Fall of 2006.