The Australia-France defence co-operation agreement: implications for France in the South Pacific

Journalist Nic Maclellan writes that the new Agreement between Australia and France regarding Defence Cooperation and Status of Forces has come at a time when France is restructuring its armed forces and rationalising its overseas bases around the world. In the Pacific, Maclellan writes that France\u27s renewed focus on New Caledonia as a major regional base for military activities may conflict with moves in that country towards a new political status. Maclellan discusses what implications this new agreement with France has for Australia, at a time when New Caledonia is moving towards an act of self-determination after 2014. He argues that \u27the increasing defence co-operation between the two countries will raise interesting dilemmas if, in the future, Australia decides not to support French military deployments in the region, as occurred during the 1980s when there were armed clashes in New Caledonia between the French military and activists from the Kanak independence movement.\u2