France agrees to New Caledonian state and nationality, but not independence

Australia Broadcast Center

2 days ago

France has announced an agreement aimed at granting more autonomy to New Caledonia in the south Pacific, but stopped short of the independence sought by many Indigenous Kanaks.
The agreement — hailed by President Emmanuel Macron as ″historic'' — still needed final approval in New Caledonia, a nickel-rich archipelago east of Australia.
The accord may face a vote in February by New Caledonians who are divided on their views on independence.
It proposed the creation of a ″state of Caledonia″ within the French republic and inscribed in the French constitution, and the creation of a ''Caledonian nationality″ alongside French nationality, according to excerpts viewed by The Associated Press.
It was reached after 10 days of negotiations — including a final overnight marathon — with representatives of the central government and those on both sides of the independence question.
The talks stemmed from months of unrest that broke out in May 2024 after Paris planned to give voting rights to thousands of non-Indigenous long-term residents.
Kanaks feared this would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.
As part of the agreement, New Caledonia residents will in the future only be allowed to vote after having lived 10 years on the archipelago.
The accord will help "us get out of the spiral of violence,'' said Emmanuel Tjibaou, a Kanak politician who participated in the talks on Saturday evening in the Elysee presidential palace in Paris.
He described a ''difficult path'' ahead but one that would allow Kanaks and other Caledonians to move forward together as ''us'' instead of divided.
Those seeking to keep New Caledonia firmly in the French fold hailed the accord.
Politcian Nicolas Metzdorf called it a compromise born of ''demanding dialogue,'' and described the Caledonian nationality as a ″real concession''.
A special congress will be held to finalise next steps, which could include more sovereignty for New Caledonia over issues of international affairs, security and justice, according to excerpts published by New Caledonia's public broadcaster.
The accord could also eventually allow New Caledonians to change the territory's name, flag and hymn.
Cammi Webb-Gannon researched decolonisation in the Pacific at the University of Wollongong and said the agreement might not be what Indigenous groups wanted, especially young activists who called for their elders and leaders to push for more independence and justice.
She also said the agreement still gave voting rights to long-term residents, a trigger for the protests, so more work needed to be done to improve political representation for the country's Indigenous population.
But Dr Webb-Gannon said the accord is a "step in the right direction" and showed that France was listening to the sentiment coming from New Caledonia.
Participants stressed the importance of rehabilitating and diversifying New Caledonia's indebted economy, which depends heavily on nickel mining, and making it less reliant on the French mainland.
Last year's violence, which claimed the lives of 14 people, is estimated to have cost the territory two billion euros ($3.6 billion), shaving 10 per cent off its gross domestic product, he said.
Both chambers of France's parliament are to meet in the fourth quarter this year to vote on approving the deal, which is then to be submitted to New Caledonians in a referendum in 2026.
There have been three previous referendums since 2018, which all rejected New Caledonian independence.
But the last referendum held in 2021 was boycotted by pro-independence groups who were mourning COVID-19 deaths which disproportionately affected the Kanak population.
She said the violence last May was the "result of a sense of overall despair" from previous referendums that were seen not to take the Indigenous vote into account.
Dr Webb-Gannon said it was still "unclear" what impact this accord will have in practice to quell pro-independence tensions but Kanak politician Emmanuel Tjibaou at the centre of negotiations was well supported by locals.
He was also the son of assassinated leader Jean-Marie Tjibaou, who sought interdependence with France, that means an independent state without animosity towards it or any of the other nations whose people settled in New Caledonia.
"His really was a vision for peace with justice.
"The legacy that [Emmanuel] is continuing to work towards his father's vision is promising."
France colonised the Pacific archipelago in the 1850s, and it became an overseas territory after World War II, with French citizenship granted to all Kanaks in 1957.
ABC/AP/AFP