Australian-Finnish relations

Australian-Finnish relations

Australia	Finland

Bilateral relations between Australia and Finland have existed since 1919. These relations were interrupted from 1941 to 1949 because of the Second World War. Today there is a Finnish embassy in Australia with a network of consulates that is also responsible for the oceanic area . The Australian embassy in Sweden is also responsible for Finland.

Australian citizens can stay in the Schengen area , including Finland, for 90 days without a visa.

history

The first official Finnish diplomatic mission in Australia was established on September 14, 1919, which was also responsible for New Zealand , New Guinea and the oceanic region. In December 1941, Great Britain, which was then responsible for Australia's foreign affairs vis-à-vis Finland, declared the end of bilateral diplomatic relations and declared war on Finland. At that time Finland had lost the so-called Winter War (1939-1940) against the Soviet Union , but Finland had lost considerable areas after the peace agreement with the Soviet Union. At this time Finland tried to regain its territories militarily. Finland was thus at war with the Soviet Union, which was allied with Great Britain at the time. Great Britain and Great Britain / Australia fought together against the Third Reich . Although there was a declaration of war between Finland and Great Britain / Australia for years, not a single shot was fired between the warring parties. After the Paris Peace Treaty was signed , Hitler's allies, including Finland, became members of the United Nations again . This enabled diplomatic relations between Australia and Finland to be resumed in 1949. In the same year a Finnish consulate was again established in Australia.

Political Relations

Building of the Finnish and Estonian embassies in Australia

The Australian embassy in Sweden is also responsible for Finland, where it operates a consular mission in the Finnish capital Helsinki .

The Finnish embassy at 12 Darwin Avenue in Yarralumla , Canberra is the only Finnish diplomatic mission in the South Pacific . She is responsible for Australia, New Zealand , Fiji , Papua New Guinea , Samoa , Tonga , Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands . She also represents Finland in the states of Nauru and Tuvalu as well as in Niue , Tokelau and the Cook Islands .

Finland's Honorary Consulates are located in all Australian states. They can be found in Sydney , Melbourne , Adelaide , Darwin , Hobart , Rochedale (a suburb of Brisbane ), Peppermint Grove (a suburb of Perth ) and Atherton in Queensland . There are also Finnish honorary consulates in New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga.

(State) visits

In December 2013, former European Commissioner for European Trade, Alexander Stubb , visited Australia. In January 2016, Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt visited Finland to discuss the situation on the Great Barrier Reef . Timo Soini visited Australia in February 2016 .

Economic relationships

Australian exports to Finland - mainly alcoholic beverages, plastic parts and components for vehicles - totaled A $ 36 million in 2015 , and imports from Finland - mainly paper and freight vehicles - amounted to A $ 724 million. Trade between Finland and Australia, especially Australian exports, is falling.

Australia is Finland's 25th largest export destination and 44th largest source of imports. Finland is Australia's 46th largest trading partner.

• 

  Australian exports to Finland since 1988 in millions of AU $

• 

  Finnish exports to Australia from 1988 in millions of AU $

About 40 Finnish companies are based in Australia and about 100 Finnish companies have Australian agents.

Cultural relations

In Australia, around thirty thousand Finns are thought to live mainly around the cities of Sydney , Brisbane , Canberra and Melbourne . In fact, only 22,420 people said they were of Finnish origin.

History of the Australian Finns

The first Finn to come to the east coast of Australia with James Cook on his first South Sea voyage (1768–1771) was the naturalist Herman Dietrich Spöring (1733–1771). His drawings from the trip are in the collection of the British Museum in London . A street in Canberra was also named after Spöring.

The first Finnish immigrants came to Australia in the 1850s to look for gold in the state of Victoria . The next wave came in the 1920s to work in the fields of sugar cane plantations in northern Queensland.

Another big wave came after World War II in the 1950s as Australia needed manpower, mainly to build the major drinking water and electricity project, the Snowy Mountains System . This immigration was funded by Australia at the time.

Finnish immigration fell sharply in the 1970s and only specialized workers emigrated to Australia, mostly temporarily.

See also

• List of Finnish ambassadors in Australia

Web links

Commons : Australian-Finnish relations  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Embassy , on finland.org.au. Retrieved September 8, 2016
2. ↑ Embassy Finland.org.au with information on the Finnish embassy in Canberra. Last accessed on September 6, 2016
3. ↑ Finland State Offices ( Memento of the original from September 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Australian Foreign Ministry with all Finnish consulates in Australia. Last accessed on September 6, 2016 
4. ↑ Finland Country Brief Australian Department of Foreign affairs and Trade with information about Finland. Last accessed on September 6, 2016
5. ↑ Finland Country / Economy Fact Sheet PDF from the Australian Foreign Ministry with information on trade between Finland and Australia. Last accessed on September 6, 2016
6. ↑ Finland in Australia finland.org.au with information about Finland in Australia. Last accessed on September 6, 2016
7. ↑ Finns in Australia Finland.org.au with the story about the Finns in Australia. Last accessed on September 6, 2016