Dear NSW Government Planners, We registered our interest in your 2019 plans and three of our DACC committee attended a tour and explanations by a team of the UrbanGrowth NSW Development Corporation in January 2019. The team did an excellent job and we were impressed and hopeful that our suggestion Read more…
As previously reported, the Dutch prison system is suffering a curious problem: they don’t have enough inmates, so they’re closing down prisons. In 2014, the government shutdown 19 facilities, while in 2009, they closed the doors on eight. And in March this year, the Dutch government announced that five more Read more…
Proportional Representation – Party List The Westminster legacy: Single Member Districts. What that means currently: In many seats the Member does NOT represent the majority – and the minority is often NOT represented by the Opposite party either. It is also incorrect to claim that a local MP represents all Read more…
Australian and Dutch history meet at Archerfield Airport in Brisbane. During WWII this airfield played a critical role for the Dutch military who, after the Japanese armed forces occupied the Dutch colony of Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia) to neighboring Australia. Over 20.000 people from NEI evacuated to Australia. Poor Read more…
In 1995 the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre organised a 50 year liberation in the Dutch East Indies commemoration at their premises in the Abel Tasman Village (ATV) at Chester Hill. Several weeks later the DAW published a double page spread review of several commemorations around the country including the one Read more…
At the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Britain together with its other allies defeated France. After the victory Britain went on for another 100 years of being the global superpower. However, during that period it remained very fearful of France and a range of minor wars were fought during the Read more…
The City of Oange , NSW When we arrived in Australia in 1983 I was aware that there was a Dutch connection with the city of Orange (named by the Surveyor General Thomas Mitchell after his friend the Prince of Orange). However, apart from the interested history buffs, very few Read more…
Australia was so successful in producing some of the best wool in the world that for more than a century (1820s-1960s) its economy was highly depending on wool. If wool prices fell Australia went into recession. The notion of Australian prosperity is often expressed as ‘riding on the sheep’s back’. Read more…
This essay will discuss historical events during and shortly after WWII that brought Australia, the Netherlands and the emerging country of Indonesia together in a complex and often messy set of international affairs.