Philips factory in Newcastle produced almost all Australia’s electric lamps for 70 years Frans Leddy reorganised Philips Australasia Turning Adversity into Opportunity: Philips in Australia, 1945-1980 European Integration and Australian Manufacturing Industry History of the manufacturer Philips Australia
Pierre van der Eng It may appear that Dutch multinational beer brewer Heineken has long tried to carry the proverbial coal to Newcastle, because its beer has been on sale in Australia since 1884. In October that year, an advertisement of trading company Boult Bros in Adelaide announced the sale Read more
Pierre van der Eng Dutch firm NV Philips Gloeilampenfabrieken exported its incandescent lamps to agents in Australia since 1912. Its lamp sales increased quickly during World War I, when Australian imports form the UK dwindled. In 1926 Philips established its own subsidiary company in Sydney: Philips Lamps (Australasia) Ltd. It Read more
By: Pierre van der Eng Several Dutch companies have operations in Australia today. The members of the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in Melbourne and Dutchlink in Sydney include Dutch mastheads like Rabobank, Randstad, ING, Heineken and Vopak. Australia has long been relatively open to inward investment by foreign companies. In Read more
Dutch businessman Herman Diederik Huyer, who settled in Australia in 1969. Huyer was born in the Netherlands in 1920, and after World War II worked for the Dutch multinational company, the Philips Group. He held posts around the world during his career. Frank Leddy reorganised Philips Australasia More than 150 Read more
The Sydney Opera House, opened on 20 October 1973, and stands tall as an iconic symbol of Australian culture. Queen Elizabeth II officially opened it, emphasising the power of human creativity. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed at the official opening, under the direction of Dutchman Willem van Otterloo. The orchestra’s Read more
By Hans Overberg Franciscus Nicolaas Leddy (1903-1964), company director, was born on 20 April 1903 at Rotterdam, the Netherlands, son of Franciscus Nicolaas Leddy, director of prisons, and his wife Cornelia, née Delabrie. Educated at Leiden high school and the Nederlandse Economische Hogeschool, Rotterdam, young Leddy began his professional career Read more
In 1869, a French chemist named Hippolyte Mège-Mouriès invented a spread made from beef tallow and skimmed milk that he called “margarine.” Margarine was initially viewed with suspicion and was slow to catch on in Europe, but by the late 19th century, it had become popular as a cheaper alternative Read more
De Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij (KPM – Royal Packet Navigation Company – was established in 1888 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The company was created by merging several smaller Dutch shipping companies that were operating in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia). KPM’s main purpose was to provide a regular shipping service between Read more
The American-British-Dutch-Australian (ABDA) Command, or ABDACOM, was a short-lived, supreme command for all Allied forces in Southeast Asia, the area also included the supply port of Darwin, in the Northern Territory, Australia. ABDA had been established at Bandung, Java on 10 January 1942 and became operational following the declaration of war Read more