The Albanese government’s silence on decolonisation is striking—the prime minister and foreign minister never use the word! Last year, Australian commentator Graeme Dobell argued that “Labor has run a grimly realist foreign policy seeking a balance of power in the Indo-Pacific.” While collaboration with France may seem “realist” in this strategic framework, the refusal to publicly challenge Paris about its decolonisation obligations is shortsighted—as highlighted by four months of rioting and clashes in one of Australia’s closest neighbours.

Months after his defeat in July’s National Assembly elections, French President Emmanuel Macron has finally appointed a new prime minister and government. Meanwhile, New Caledonia’s crisis has continued—with regional implications for Australia and Pacific neighbours.

On 5 September, French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier as French prime minister, calling on him to form “a unifying government to serve the country and the French people.” This appointment came after an agonisingly long wait, nearly two months after the National Assembly elections on 7 July that saw a significant setback to Macron’s authority.

It then took Barnier another fortnight to cobble together a new government. As a member of the conservative party Les Républicains—which came fourth in the elections behind other parliamentary groups—Barnier has filled key ministries with members of his own party, as well as the outgoing Ensemble alliance that links President Macron’s Renaissance party with other smaller conservative forces.

Le Monde has reported that the new government, whose future is reliant on votes from the Right and Far Right, wants “to implement ‘a Right-wing policy’ focused on ‘more security’ and ‘less immigration’.” Its stability is uncertain: Socialist Party chair Oliver Faure has described the new ministry as “a reactionary government that gives democracy the finger,” while Jordan Bardella of the extreme-Right Rassemblement national said the government was “a........

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