(Profile current as of October 2025) Chris Hemsworth (born 11 August 1983), Liam Hemsworth (born 13 January 1990), and Luke Hemsworth (born 5 November 1980) are Australian actors whose shared success has brought international attention to their family’s diverse heritage. Read more
(Published October 2025) Alister Andrew Henskens (born 30 December 1963) is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party, currently representing the electorate of Wahroonga in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He previously held senior ministerial portfolios including Read more
Nicolette Boele (born 10 November 1970) is an Australian independent Member of Parliament representing the federal seat of Bradfield in Sydney’s north since May 2025. The daughter of Dutch migrants who settled in Australia in the 1960s, she belongs to Read more
In the years leading up to 1962, several Dutch, Papuan and Australian thinkers imagined a new political constellation for the Pacific: a Melanesian Union or Federation. This proposed bloc would have united Dutch New Guinea, the Australian-administered territories of Papua Read more
Isaac Le Maire: entrepreneur, dissident, and pioneer explorer Isaac Le Maire (c. 1558–1624) was a Dutch merchant of Walloon origin, born in Tournai (now Belgium). After settling in the Dutch Republic, he became one of the largest investors in the Read more
The transfer of Dutch New Guinea to Indonesian control in 1963 marked the abrupt end of one of the most promising experiments in decolonisation in the Pacific. During the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Netherlands had begun preparing the Read more
In November 1961, Dutch and Australian authorities jointly undertook one of the most extensive search operations ever mounted in Dutch New Guinea. The mission followed the disappearance of Michael Rockefeller, son of the then–Governor of New York, Nelson Rockefeller, whose Read more
In the early 1950s, Resident Karel Knödler of South New Guinea crossed the frontier into Australian-administered Papua New Guinea. His visit offers a rare first-hand Dutch view of daily life and administration across the colonial border that once divided the Read more
In the decade following the Second World War, the Netherlands and Australia shared the vast island of New Guinea as neighbouring colonial powers. The western half, Netherlands New Guinea (DNG), remained under Dutch administration, while the eastern half, the Territory Read more
In September 1945, as Japan’s capitulation brought the Second World War to an end, Australia was tasked with overseeing the surrender of tens of thousands of Japanese troops scattered across the islands of New Guinea and the Netherlands East Indies. Read more