Interview with Paul Culliver, ABC Newcastle

Paul Culliver: First, though, let's begin in New Caledonia, there have been deadly riots for a number of days now. French President Emmanuel Macron, you may have heard about this, has delayed voting reforms that sparked these riots. They were proposing electoral changes that would allow thousands of French residents who have lived in the French territory for ten years to vote, and the indigenous people of that territory, who make up more than 40 per cent of the population, were seeing the changes as an attempt to torpedo the independence movement. What it has done, of course, is created a very unsafe environment for many on the ground there and many Australians getting caught up in it. Let's find out what those efforts are to get them out. Pat Conroy is the Minister for the Pacific and, of course, your local federal MP for Shortland. Minister, good afternoon to you.

Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy: G'day, Paul. How are you?

Paul Culliver: I'm well. What are those efforts so far?

Minister Conroy: Yes, so we've transported, as of today, around 287 Australians back to Australia from New Caledonia. That includes around 100 who got home today. So, that's 187 earlier in the week, 100 today.

Paul Culliver: And how many people, how many Australians are still there in New Caledonia?

Minister Conroy: So, this is our highest priority. Our priority, the Australian government's priority, is to get every single Australian who wants to leave New Caledonia to get them home, and we are seeing an increase in the number of Australians registering for assistance. And at the moment, we assess that there are around 200 remaining seeking to depart New Caledonia and we're planning on further flights over the weekend with a particular focus on Australians outside of Noumea on the outer island, but as well as, obviously, helping people on the main island.

Paul Culliver: Yeah. So, just to understand, are there - everyone that wants to get out, they're obviously making contact with the Australian government? Are they doing that through a consular in Noumea or how is that actually happening?

Minister Conroy: They can either ring the 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 or 02, sorry, or 261-3305. Or they can go on the website and it's crisis.dfat.gov.au and they can register their details there. And once they're registered, we're in daily contact with them. And our commitment, obviously, is to get every single Australian who wants to leave New Caledonia out of there.

Paul Culliver: Yeah, sure. And just to understand, obviously, this situation has been unfolding for a number of days now. You're still having more and more Australians coming forward saying, "Hey, we're here and we want out".

Minister Conroy: Yeah, absolutely. So, the advice, the number of registrations at the start of the week was about 300 Australians who wanted to leave and now up to just under 500. So, it is increasing and obviously we're working to run flights or coordinate with other countries to get on their flights Australians.

Paul Culliver: What is the understanding of what's happening on the ground in New Caledonia right now?

Minister Conroy: Well, a curfew is in place for the Noumea metropolitan area and locals are strictly, local authorities are strictly limiting movement. It is calmer than it was earlier in the week, but obviously there's still issues and potential for demonstrations, gatherings and roadblocks. And so our advice to all Australians, especially Noumea, is to minimise movement, monitor the media and follow the advice for the local authorities. But when in doubt, contact the Australian consulate and the Consular Emergency Centre for further advice.

Paul Culliver: Sure. To your knowledge, have any Australians been caught up in any of the violence?

Minister Conroy: Not to my knowledge. I haven't been advised to that.

Paul Culliver: That's certainly good news. I'm not sure if you have the breakdown of how many people are living, working in New Caledonia that are Australians or otherwise are there on some kind of holiday or some other reason?

Minister Conroy: My advice from earlier in the week, and it might be out of date, was it was slightly more than 500. But, as I said, as this crisis continues, more and more people register on SmartTraveller. But at the start of the week, it was 500 Australians, broadly New Caledonia, 300 who wanted to go home. Now we're up to about, what's that, about the high 400's now wanting to leave?

Paul Culliver: Yeah. I just mean, in terms of breakdown of reason for travel, are we talking mostly tourists?

Minister Conroy: Yeah, mostly tourists. There's some long-term residents there as well, but the vast majority are tourists.

Paul Culliver: Yeah. How safe is that, I suppose extraction, for want of a better phrase, is the process of actually getting those flights in and out of a Noumea a dangerous operation?

Minister Conroy: Not as far as I know. The French authorities are working with us. The international airport remains closed, but the domestic airport in Noumea is open and we're using that. And so, obviously, we've been using Royal Australian Air Force Hercules aircraft, but there was also a French aircraft that transported about 100 Australians the day before last. So, the actual extraction, once permission is given at the moment, is not posing significant risks.

Paul Culliver: Obviously, it's a complex situation with the French government having these proposed voting changes that have sparked this rioting in New Caledonia. Is that something that the Australian government is having conversations with the French government over, or what are those dialogues there about? What is sparking this unrest?

Minister Conroy: Well, we're in continual dialogue with the French government over a range of matters and what we've been saying to all sides in New Caledonia is just encouraging them to talk, have dialogue with each other and work on following the Noumea Accords, which obviously were a central process that's been in place for a number of decades, and we continue to support all parties. We welcome President Macron visiting New Caledonia both as a gesture, in a way, is opening a dialogue with both the sort of pro-independence aspects of the New Caledonian political spectrum, as well as the ones who supported continual relationships with France. And we just think all parties should keep talking and try and arrive at a mutually satisfactory conclusion.

Paul Culliver: Minister, this might be sort of the least of your concerns, but I know that a lot of the reason a lot of people, a lot of Australians end up going to New Caledonia is it's a stopover. It's a port stop for cruises through to Vanuatu and other parts of the Pacific. Do you know whether those cruises are cancelled or changing their route or any kind of impact on those kinds of travel arrangements?

Minister Conroy: I haven't been provided advice to that, Paul I'm sorry to say. We've been focused on Australians who can't get out. Obviously, if they're on cruise ships, they've got a level of mobility themselves and are not aware of any future cruises have changed their plans.

Paul Culliver: Yeah. Obviously, that's a conversation that any travellers or future travellers should be having with their cruise provider or travel agents. Is there any kind of instance of Australians, I suppose, families getting contact with DFAT, et cetera, saying they can't locate Australians in New Caledonia? There's no unaccounted for Australians?

Minister Conroy: I haven't been advised of that. There's Australians who are very anxious about their family members and very keen to understand when they're going to be coming home, but I haven't been advised of anyone who's uncontactable. That's not to say that's not the case, but hasn't been raised with me just yet.

Paul Culliver: Yeah, for sure. You are hearing from Pat Conroy, Minister for the Pacific, and, of course, your local federal MP for Shortland. Just to also ask you about this news that we're just developing this afternoon. Terrible news that a landslide has struck a remote area of Papua New Guinea. We've heard that more than 100 people are feared dead. I don't know if you've got any information about what's coming out there and particularly if there are any Australians involved.

Minister Conroy: I haven't been advised that any Australians are involved. This is in Enga Province, which is one of the main Highland provinces of Papua New Guinea. It's incredibly tragic and the number of lives lost looks quite significant and obviously we send our condolences to the people of Papua New Guinea. Our High Commissioner has made contact both with the Governor of Enga Province and Prime Minister Marape and his government and we've obviously made offers of assistance. We stand ready to support PNG in these horrific circumstances in any way we can, just as they've supported us. They're our closest neighbour and dearest of friends and we stand ready to help them, just as they've helped us when we've had bushfires and floods.

Paul Culliver: All right, Minister, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you.

Minister Conroy: Thanks, Paul. Have a good afternoon.