page_title: Australia–Germany relations
section_title: New Guinea
hierarchical_section_title: Australia–Germany relations / History / New Guinea
context_page_description: Australia–Germany relations are foreign relations between Australia and Germany. Germany has an embassy in Canberra and a consulate general in Sydney. Australia has an embassy in Berlin and a consulate general in Frankfurt.
context_section_description: An early collision of Australian and German interests dates to the early 1880s, as both the German Empire and the elites of Britain's Australian colonies were interested in exploiting the resources of the island of New Guinea. Eventually, the north-eastern quarter of the island became a German protectorate in 1884 (German New Guinea), while Queensland annexed the southeastern quarter of the island to the British Empire in 1883. In 1902-1905, soon after the formation of the Commonwealth of Australia, this Territory of Papua was formally transferred under the Australian administration. Thus a land border between German and Australian colonial possessions came into existence, at least as a line on world maps. In practice, however, there was little if any colonial presence in the interior of the island, and the border remained mostly unsurveyed.
caption: Lifeboats with some of the survivors from German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran towed to Carnarvon, Western Australia, by the freigher Centaur. HMAS Sydney was lost with all hands.
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