Preamble and translation of ‘Kanaky: the time of the colonies is over!’ by the Union Communiste Libertaire (UCL)
In May of this year, large-scale unrest broke out in the French Melanesian territory of Kanaky, more commonly known as New Caledonia. Large sectors of the Indigenous Kanak population protested against a proposal for a new voting law that would expand the electoral power of the white settler population. So far over fifteen hundred people have been arrested, over one hundred and fifty have been injured, and nine have been killed. The protests picked back up again in late June after key Kanak independence activists were detained and transported to mainland France.
Australians generally think of Kanaky-New Caledonia as a happy-go-lucky land of tourist resorts. In actual fact, it is a hotbed of social unrest with a severely divided population. The protests from the Kanak population have not simply been driven by pro-independence sentiments, but by general disillusionment with the country’s economic situation. According to the official French statistics, over 70% of Kanaks live below the poverty line, and around 20% are unemployed.
The Australian government is watching the unrest keenly. Officially, Australia is neutral on the independence question, especially when dealing with the Independent Melanesian states like Fiji and Papua New Guinea which are broadly supportive of the independence forces. However, the Australian government is fundamentally pro-France. In December Penny Wong signed an agreement with the French minister for Foreign Affairs that would allow for increased reciprocal access to each other’s military bases. The brewing conflict between Chinese and American-led imperialism has meant that even its location alone is significant. The country is also very valuable: its nickel deposits are crucial for the production of electric vehicle batteries.
Even if Kanaky-New Caledonia secures independence, it would still be confronted with many of the political-economic problems it faces now. However, a grassroots struggle against French colonialism could develop into something more: a struggle against colonialism that encompasses the entire region and goes beyond just the fight for independence .
The Asia-Pacific region is a pressure cooker. Class conflict is getting more and more acute in countries like Papua New Guinea as capitalism continues to overturn traditional Indigenous societies, turning customary land into private property and throwing its members into the working class. We don’t need to wait until the next war to find the solutions to these problems: solidarity can and should be built between workers in Australia and workers in the Asia-Pacific now .
Below is a translation of an article published by the Union Communiste Libertaire in their newspaper Alternative Libertaire . The Union Communiste Libertaire is a platformist organisation (i.e., in the same tradition as us) that is based in France and is active in the Kanak solidarity movement there. The growth of a similar solidarity movement in Australia would be a welcome development.
Settler colonialism, whether Australian or French, deserves to fall!
Kanaky: The time of the colonies is over!
The arrival of Emmanuel Macron confirming that he wants “neither retreat nor delay but a call for calm”, has sown confusion and cemented a climate of grief and fear which continues to reign. The dissolution of the National Assembly has diverted the media from the problem which remains nonetheless just as important to resolve: the end of the colonisation of Kanaky.
Kanaky, or Kanaky-New Caledonia, is an archipelago of islands situated in the Pacific Ocean between Australia and New Zealand, registered on the list of territories “to decolonise” by the UN. The 1998 Nouméa accords were supposed to launch a 20-year process of decolonisation, resulting in three referendums on the full sovereignty of Kanaky, but the French State wants to maintain its grip for geopolitical and economic interests. Indeed, Kanaky has geographical proximity to China as well as maritime and mineral resources.
The UCL (Libertarian Communist Union) was already denouncing this situation several weeks before the beginning of the revolts, which began when the police opened fire upon protesters opposing the constitutional reform. This was in fact planned for a “thawing of the electoral body” in Kanaky. It consisted – we speak in the past tense, given it was temporarily suspended …