Prince William has sung Australia's praises, dubbing it "young, innovative, caring and cool" as he unveiled a statue of the man who literally put the country on the map.
The life-size bronze figure of British explorer Matthew Flinders, the first man to circumnavigate the country and pen the name Australia, was unveiled by the Duke of Cambridge in a ceremony at Australia House in London on Friday morning.
After uncloaking the statue, which will take pride of place at London's Euston Railway Station, William spoke about his recent visit Down Under with wife Catherine and son George.
"Australia is a very dear country to me and Catherine, and so I am particularly honoured to have been invited today to celebrate a man who did far more than anyone to place Australia - quite literally - on the map," he told guests at the ceremony.
Flinders is particularly important in South Australia where the Flinders Ranges, Flinders Chase National Park, Flinders Street in Adelaide, and Flinders University are named after him, and it was South Australian government officials in the UK that led the two-year project to have the explorer immortalised.
William spoke specifically of his trip to South Australia, and his visit to the Northern Sound System organisation.
"There, we met young people - some from very difficult backgrounds - who were turning their lives around through the power of music," he said.
"The place was Australia at its very best: young, innovative, caring, cool ... it was a truly uplifting place."
South Australia's Agent General to London, Bill Muirhead, said Flinders, who was 27 when he completed the map of Australia, was an example of what one could achieve when they held fast to an idea.
"I hope that from today his story becomes much more widely appreciated in his home country," he said.
The statue, which shows the British navigator at work over a stylised map of Australia, accompanied by his cat Trim, will be installed at Euston on Saturday morning.
It was also announced at Friday's ceremony that money left over from the project will be used for a Matthew Flinders Memorial Statue Scholarship, which will fund British students to study at Flinders University, and students of Flinders University looking to study in the UK.
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