TRANSCRIPT
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the Australian Defence Force is ready to fly out and evacuate Australians stranded in New Caledonia.
A state of emergency is in place after deadly rioting erupted [[13 May]], sparked by a proposal to allow more French residents voting rights.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government is examining options to help the hundreds of Australians trapped.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are working very closely to examine the need to protect Australians who are in New Caledonia. We know that there’s around about 300 people registered with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. So that those people who are looking for information can call 1300 555 135 to get that assistance. The Australian government is closely monitoring the events in New Caledonia."
In a statement, Ms Wong says the Australian government is working closely with French authorities so that Australians wishing to come home can do so.
The federal government says it is awaiting updates on the security situation from French authorities before evacuation plans can proceed.
With a curfew in place, commercial flights were stopped after the main airport was closed.
Qantas says it is in the process of adding flights in the coming week.
Meanwhile, food rationing has impacted those in New Caledonia, after looting left supermarket shelves bare.
Sydney resident Taran Jenkins spoke to SBS News from the capital Nouméa.
"Luckily we're in a really nice hotel that had looked after us with the food but I know some of the supplies, you know, nappies, it's people with children, medications. You know, there's lots of different issues that have arisen for people with needs and the island is completely.. we went for a walk and we're in the best part of the island and there's nothing left in any supermarket you cannot get a supply for anything so, yeah, we're just we are lucky that we're in these hotels, but we know which some Australians are stranded in the middle of the island with no supplies with no food and no access, you know, to support."
A week of rioting has left behind a trail of damage in the form of torched cars, looted shops, and road barricades that are cutting off access to medicine and food.
The New Caledonia government says it has at least two months of food remaining on the island, but that distribution is the key challenge.
Government spokesperson Gilbert Tyuiénon says the authorities must find a way to deliver supplies.
"The fact that our populations cannot feed themselves, it starts to cause problems. And these problems are likely to worsen in the coming days. Our country is not in a risk of a shortage, but it's all a problem of logistics. To be able to supply not only the supermarkets, but also local shops."
Brisbane woman Sophie Jones Bradshaw is among the Australians trapped in New Caledonia, she has told the Australian Associated Press that she is exhausted and scared.
She says she goes to bed each night fully dressed with her passport nearby, ready to leave at a moment's notice.
Taran Jenkins says with a delayed response from DFAT, she has taken matters into her own hands.
"There has been quite a delayed response from DFAT. It has been quite... (there's a) lack of information probably to say the best. You know, and we have lots of different people who use technology quite differently. We've noticed so that's why we've ended up sort of working together. I created a WhatsApp group myself just to rally everyone together because there was sort of simply not much information coming through from from DFAT, unfortunately. So we we started to plan our own evacuation strategy, to be honest."
The passage of controversial electoral reforms in France's parliament triggered the rioting.
The proposed changes to the constitution would add thousands of extra voters to New Caledonia’s electoral rolls, which have not been updated since the late 1990s.
The Indigenous Kanak people of New Caledonia - 40 per cent of the population - say the changes will dilute their voting power.
Rock Haocas is a leader of a Kanak workers union.
"We’re losing this Kanak specificity that we’ve had over this island for the past 3,000 years. We welcomed with open arms other people who arrived there, voluntarily or against their will. We’ve been imposed other people and a democratic system that only validates a colonial takeover by another population. I’ll take Guadeloupe (French Caribbean island) as an example or French Guyana, where the Indigenous population has all but disappeared."
