By Norm Dixon
Labor leaders are falling over themselves to reassure the rulers of France that, while they may not like their nuclear tests, their right to control the territories of Tahiti, Kanaky and Wallis and Futuna is not being questioned.
In an interview published in the French daily Le Figaro, foreign minister Gareth Evans denied that Australian opposition to French tests was a pretext to eliminate France from the Pacific. "We welcome France's presence in the Pacific. We believe that it has played a very helpful and constructive role, not least in development assistance for many island countries", Evans said.
This rosy view ignores the fact that at this very moment, many people in "French" Polynesia are vigorously opposing continued French rule of their homeland. Independence leaders point out the obvious fact that nuclear testing is possible only because France has colonised Tahiti.
France provoked a virtual civil war in Kanaky throughout the 1980s by its determination not to allow independence for the island. When Vanuatu won independence in 1980, the French government, together with right-wing US forces, had a hand in the unsuccessful attempt at secession by Espiritu Santo. And immediately following the racist military coups in Fiji in 1987, France rushed in to provide economic and military aid to the brutal Rabuka regime.
"We want nothing more than the continuation of what has been in recent years excellent neighbourly relations", Evans smarmed. Asked if he considered France "a colonial power in the Pacific area", our courageous minister replied: "I have not used that terminology and I am not inclined to. It might be thought to be a technically accurate description ... but that is not terminology that I feel comfortable employing because it distracts from the main issue."
Following PM Paul Keating's vague, unspecific criticisms of French colonialism on August 9, after charges of Australian hypocrisy appeared in the French media, other senior ministers and officials rushed in to smooth the waters. Minister for Pacific Island Affairs Gordon Bilney cooed: "It is absolutely no part of our agenda to boot the French out of the South Pacific. There is absolutely no reason why we would want the French out ... and plenty of reason why we would want them to stay."
Australia's ambassador to France, Alan Brown, whispered more soothing words: "Australia values France's presence in the Pacific. We have had excellent neighbourly relations and have no greater desire than that this relationship should continue. Australia looks forward to cooperating with France at both the public and private level in developing links in the wider Asia Pacific region."
To prove Labor's sincerity, Australian officials successfully argued that French government representatives should not be excluded from the dialogue meeting that will follow the South Pacific Forum meeting in Port Moresby in September.
France and Australia, two imperialist countries with a stake in the continued exploitation of people of the Pacific, have more in common than divides them. Our minister for hot air, Gareth Evans, admitted as much on television on August 6: "I think both sides, despite all the sound and fury, are doing their best to quarantine it to the nuclear issue because both sides have appreciated that there are benefits to be gained from having a more balanced and sensible longer-term relationship".
The last thing Evans wants is for the people of PNG to get any ideas from radicals like Oscar Temuru in Tahiti or sections of the independence movement in Kanaky. That's why Australia will not oppose France's dominance over its colonies.