12. Our New Zealand history is written with a Dutch and English bias.
- Kerry Paul
- Sep 6
- 1 min read
Our history is taught in terms of British and Dutch colonial empires with the role of the Portuguese treated as minimal. At the beginning of the 17th century Dutch explorers began to uncover the secrets of the Australian continent. Willem Jansz and his crew of the Duyfken made history in 1606 by being the first recorded Europeans to set foot on Australian soil at the Pennefather River on Cape York Peninsula. Many Dutch explorers followed later in the century and named the country ‘New Holland’.
During Portugal’s colonial period, did any Portuguese navigator (or in fact Indian much earlier) skilled in maritime navigation, and so close to Australian shores never venture south to explore the coastline and beyond? The map below shows how close the Portuguese were to Australia. Given their enthusiasm for exploration and profit, and in particular the lure of the ‘Illes of Gold’ not motivate them to come south?
These mariners left behind evidence of their presence.
Why has not the Portuguese discovery been made public earlier? The reason is this country’s records were kept secret whereas Dutch records were freely available.
Australian and New Zealand historians relied on traditional centres of learning being London and Paris not Lisbon. The former does not contain maps of Australia and New Zealand.
Your next read in the series: 13. A simple re-alignment of the map places everything in correct position.
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