Experts and observers say the discord in New Caledonia has built amid a deepening economic divide and a prolonged stalemate over the future of its status as a French territory.
New Caledonia's civil unrest has unfolded rapidly, but some say the French territory's strife was years in the makingDavid Guyenne is counting the cost of damage from the civil unrest that plunged New Caledonia into its worst violence in 40 years.
To Mr Guyenne, also president of the territory’s chamber of commerce and industry, the outbreak of unrest was unexpected.For others, this week's events were not as surprising, after discord built amid a prolonged stalemate over the future of New Caledonia's status as a French territory. A majority voted to remain part of France in the first two in 2018 and 2020, but the gap between the "yes" and "no" vote narrowed.
"It was a highly politicised gesture and some reaction to it was almost inevitable. Pro-France loyalist parties were happy," Professors Batterbury and Kowasch said in a joint statement to the ABC."It is quite likely that in this settler economy with a declining European origin population and greater number of indigenous residents — at least 42 per cent Kanak at present — a vote for independence could actually have been successful, now or in the near future," they said.
With France's National Congress debating the proposed changes on Monday, New Caledonia's pro-independence parties in the local Congress called for them to be withdrawn.Another divideThe territory's crucial nickel mining economy has experienced a downturn that has rippled into higher unemployment, Professors Batterbury and Kowasch said.Four people have now died in the unrest, with French officials saying a police officer died from a gunshot wound.
Mr Guyenne said many of the rioters were young people, and he believes they are being used by some political sides for their own agenda. Anthony Albanese this week said the government was monitoring the situation — a rare public comment on the French territory from an Australian prime minister.
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