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7 Austl. Indigenous L. Rep. 88 (2002)
Noumea Accord

handle is hein.journals/austindlr7 and id is 98 raw text is: NEW CALEDONIA
NOUMEA ACCORD
Government of France, Front de Liberation Nationale Kanak et Socialiste and the Rassemblement
Pour la Calidonie dans la R6publique (RPCR)
5 May 1998

After a complex series of negotiations, the Noumea Accord
for New Caledonia was signed on 5 May 1998 by the
government of France, the Kanak independence movement
Front de Lib6ration Nationale Kanak et Socialiste (FLNKS)
and the conservative settler party Rassemblement Pour la
Caledonie dans la Republique (RPCR).
Subsequent legislation in Paris enacted key elements of the
Accord, including:
* constitutional changes to New Caledonia's status
within the French Republic, creating 'shared
sovereignty', a new citizenship for New Caledonians,
and ending the previous status as a territoire
d'outre-mer (overseas territory) of France;
* elections in May 1999 for new political institutions,
replacing the existing Territorial Congress;
* an 'irreversible' transfer of administrative powers
from Paris to local authorities and the new Congress
in New Caledonia;
* measures to recognise Indigenous Kanak culture and
identity (highlighted by a preamble to the Noumea
Accord which acknowledges the 'shadows' of the
colonial period); and
* a further 15-20 year transition before a referendum
on self-determination for New Caledonia, possibly
leading to the 'emancipation' of the territory.
The transitional status created by the Noumea Accord is
unique, and was negotiated in stages. Following the signing
of the agreement on 5 May 1998, the French National
Assembly and Senate passed amendments to the French
Constitution that were approved at a joint sitting of

Parliament at Versailles on 6 July 1998. The agreement was
then ratified by nearly 72 per cent of the population of New
Caledonia in a referendum on 8 November 1998. The
French Parliament passed legislation to implement the
referendum decision on 12 March 1999.
This opened the way for May 1999 elections to the new
political institutions:
a) Three Provincial Assemblies for the Southern
Province (40 seats), the Northern Province (22 seats)
and the Loyalty Islands Province (14 seats).
b) A new 54 seat Congress made up of 32 Assembly
members from the south, 15 from the north and 7
from the Loyalty Islands, elected for five-year terms.
c) A Government executive of 11 members that
replaced the French High Commissioner as the
country's executive body, and can propose laws for
adoption by the Congress.
d) A 16-member Senate for Indigenous customary
chiefs, which must be consulted on issues that affect
Kanak identity.
The new category of 'New Caledonian citizens' under
French law is important for voting, immigration and
employment rights. Only New Caledonians were allowed to
vote in the November 1998 referendum and for the
Assembly and Congress elections (however, New
Caledonian citizens retain their French nationality, and can
join all other French nationals to vote for the French
National Assembly and European Parliament).
Powers currently held by the French State will be transferred to
New Caledonia in stages. Unlike France's autonomy statutes for

Vol 7no 1. 2002

AR

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