1606 Discovery of Australia

The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history." — George Orwell

'1606 Discovery of Australia' is not just about the most forgotten event in Australia's history; it is also an account of the most detailed history of Australia's most forgotten man, Willem Janszoon, the man who discovered Australia.

The book traces Janszoon's amazing adventures as a boy being held captive and his dramatic rescue from the Spanish Embassy in London. Follow his many voyages and rapid promotion to Captain, Commander, Admiral, Governor and Councillor of the Indies.

While outlining Janszoon's career, the author is mindful of the importance of historical context. How was it possible for the Netherlands, formed in 1579, at war with Spain, the most powerful country in the world, to come to dominate world trade and discover a new continent, Australia, in only 27 years?

Without the context of the Eighty Years' War, the reader would not understand why events occurred or the motivations of the men who sailed to the Indies.

For almost his entire life, Janszoon was at war. He fought the Spanish, Portuguese, and the English and was instrumental in the defence of Batavia against a force of over 100,000 men.

There is no detailed study of either Australia's first discovery or its discoverer, Willem Janszoon, anywhere in our education institutions. Our earliest known European contact has been erased. We should not erase the past because it does not fit the present.