AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT HELPS DUYFKEN SET SAIL TO
HIGHLIGHT COASTAL HERITAGE

22/02/2006 - Australians will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to experience a working 16th century vessel when the replica of the Dutch ship Duyfken sets off on a 12,000km voyage to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the first documented European contact with Australia.
The journey marks the first mapping of the Australian coast by Duyfken Captain Willem Janszoon, who chartered 320km of coastline off Cape York Peninsula.
The Australian Government has provided major sponsorship of $495,000 for the journey, which will be a key component of the Government’s 2006 focus on coastal and maritime heritage.
Announcing the voyage, Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage Senator Ian Campbell said the important journey would help highlight the significant contribution coastal sites and places in our history have made to today’s society.
It also was a tribute to the enormous Western Australian community effort, led by Fremantle businessman the late Michael G Kailis and his Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation, that had seen the Little Dove brought back to life to tell the little-known story of Australia’s first European visitors.
“Many Australians still are not aware that our country was literally put on the map by Captain Janszoon during his 1606 voyage,” Senator Campbell said.
“This journey I am announcing today will bring that history to life in ports throughout the country and also highlight the unique coastal and maritime heritage that has developed since the first charting of our coast.
“Today, 85 per cent of Australians live within 50 km of the coast; a coast that is home to diverse and rich heritage, including places associated with European settlement, Indigenous sites, historic buildings, wharves and jetties, lighthouses, coastal defence installations and shipwrecks. The Duyfken voyage is a most fitting way to celebrate this heritage.”
The Duyfken is scheduled to stop in 25 ports around the country during its nine-month journey and will be open for tours while in port. School children and the public can learn more about a defining period in our heritage that saw the Duyfken sail into our history and put Australia on the map.
The initiative is a partnership between the Australian Government, the Duyfken 1606 Replica Foundation and Australia on the Map.