During the period of exploration, Aborigines had inhabited Australia for an extensive period and during their time there, firm evidence suggests several countries visited. However Europeans did not settle Australia until 1770. This leads us to ask various questions. Did these countries actually come across Australia and if so why didn't they stay?.
Portugal is one of many countries that is believed to have discovered Australia. We presume this because Timor was often used as a trading base, which was only 620 kms form Darwin, therefore it would be likely if they incidentally came about Australia. Also the mahogany ship spotted near Warrnambool seems to largely resemble a Portuguese caravel. Furthermore, through the treaty of Tordesillas, Spain and Portugal divided the world between them. Although it was not known at the time, this line of division passed through Australia. Nevertheless people from both countries wandered onto each other's territory. It is likely that the Portuguese did not colonise here because by doing so Spain would have realised they hadn't followed the rules consequently causing a war.
The Dutch definitely uncovered Australia when in 1606 Williem Jansz set sail for New Guinea from Java. After 8 of his crew were killed, Jansz sailed into the Gulf of Carpentaria not knowing he had discovered Australia. But following a skirmish with Aborigines, he left with negative thoughts and neither the gold nor riches he had been seeking. Besides this, Brouwer had discovered a quicker route to get to the Spice Islands using a method called the " Roaring Forties." Because navigation techniques were not extremely advanced at the time, it meant that sailors were always blown off course and often ended up on the west coast of Australia that lay perilous reef. .
In 1688 William Dampier accidentally approached Australia when his ship needed repair. On returning to England he wrote a book about his journey.