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But the close ties between Australia and France will not please President Oscar Temaru in French Polynesia, with Australia opposing the Maohi leader’s call for re-inscription with the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation.
We’re friends...New Caledonia’s President Harold Martin (left) shakes hands with Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs, Richard Marles. Photo: Nic Maclellan
Aust/France improved relations worry Temaru Marles: ‘We take our lead from France’ By Nic Maclellan As she toured the Pacific last April, Australia’s Governor-General Quentin Bryce made an unprecedented visit to New Caledonia. Bryce’s visit to Noumea was the first ever by an Australian Governor-General, and an important signal of the improved relations between Australia and France, as well as the Government of New Caledonia. The Governor-General was accompanied by Australia’s Parliamentary Secretary for Pacific Islands Affairs Richard Marles, who has been raking up frequent flyer points as Australia’s diplomatic 28 Islands Business, August 2012
face in the region. Marles has paid particular attention to the three French colonies in the Pacific, making regular visits and building warm personal relationships with leaders like New Caledonia’s President Harold Martin. Last year, Marles even visited Wallis and Futuna, which is way-off-the-beaten-track for most Australian politicians! His visit for the 50th anniversary of Wallis and Futuna gaining territorial status was the first trip to Matu-Utu by an Australian Member of Parliament. In a wide-ranging interview with Islands B usiness , Marles talks about the improved relations between Canberra and Paris, stating: “We very much appreciate France’s presence in the Pacific.”
He stresses Australia’s support for integrating “the three French Pacific collectivities into the Pacific family”, and the importance of supporters and opponents of independence developing a consensus position on New Caledonia’s future political status. But the close ties between Australia and France will not please President Oscar Temaru in French Polynesia, with Australia opposing the Maohi leader’s call for re-inscription with the United Nations Special Committee on Decolonisation. According to Marles: “We absolutely take our lead from France on this.” Australia’s improving relations with France pose serious issues for the Pacific Islands Forum policy on the French Pacific, as Forum leaders gather in the Cook Islands this month for their annual meeting. The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) had planned a mission to New Caledonia in early July to monitor progress on the Noumea Accord, but the mission was postponed after the delegation leader, Fiji’s Voreqe Bainimarama, was not issued with a visa. The call by President Temaru for international scrutiny of the self-determination process for the Maohi people will also be raised in the Cook Islands. Improved relations Long gone are the tensions of the mid-1980s, when Canberra and Paris engaged in a war of words over France’s nuclear and colonial policies in the Pacific.