Australians in New Caledonia: Not everyone is safely back home, but the first Australians evacuated from riot-stricken New Caledonia have returned to their homeland.
Since the start of violent protests last Monday, at least 300 Australian tourists have been stranded in or close to the capital of Noumea. Some have said they have been unable to obtain food or necessary medications.
The Federal authorities got approval to dispatch two military transport aircraft to pick up the first of the evacuees after pressuring the French authorities for several days.
Tuesday night, the planes touched down in Brisbane. Gary and Chris Salmon were among the travellers. Living on the Gold Coast, the father and son have spent twenty years working in New Caledonia’s nickel mining sector. Gary Salmon told ABC he had never witnessed anything like the turmoil of today.
“It’s very unfortunate what’s happening there at the moment, it’s such a beautiful country,” he said according to ABC Net.
“I’d hate to estimate the damage over there, it won’t be millions, it’ll be billions.”
Chris expressed his thanks to the Australian government for reacting so promptly, as did his father.
Salmon added, “It’s quite sad what’s going on over there it feels pretty awful and pretty senseless,”
He added, “Everyone was just so relieved to have that Australian support … when Canberra kicked into gear with DFAT (Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) and they got their comms going they really did a good job as well, so really happy,”
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The rioting started as Mary Hatten and her family were attempting to enjoy a holiday.
“Oh, thank God we’re here! was how we felt when we landed,” Ms. Hatton remarked.
She asserted that the Australian government ought to have taken more action to warn travelers about the potential for instability.
“By Tuesday morning quite frankly the place was just in a mess, which was very sad for the locals, for the tourist industry, and I suppose to some extent for our own personal enjoyment, we were pretty much confined to the hotel,” Ms. Hatten said.
“We had a lot of discussions with local business operators and also a couple of people that we met who were expats, working there … for four or five years and they sort of said ‘it’s been on the cards, things have been brewing’.
108 Australians and other tourists have landed in Brisbane on two Australian Government assisted-departure flights from New Caledonia. Thank you to officials who facilitated the flights. We continue to work with partners on further flights, prioritising passengers based on need. pic.twitter.com/iz7xna3FFG
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) May 21, 2024
“I’m sort of thinking to myself, well, maybe the travel warning should be a lot greater.”
Tuesday night, a similar aircraft with around fifty New Zealand nationals touched down in Auckland.
Australians are waiting on additional flights
Australians in New Caledonia have received communication from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade advising that French authorities will launch additional evacuation planes from the nation on Wednesday local time.
“Pending further updates from French authorities, we will contact you with more details on their flight arrangements,” the communication said.
According to DFAT, flights can happen with short notice and passengers needed to be ready to depart.
“The Australian Government also stands ready to assist with further flights should French authorities grant approval.”
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In the days ahead, French authority will assist safe return to Noumea, DFAT has also informed Australians living outside of the capital. It claimed to be looking for more direction on the arrangements. Those that were still waiting for an exit were irate.
On his honeymoon with his bride Emily was Australian Benen Huntley. In a telephone interview with Reuters, he said, “My wife is quite upset, we just want to get home.”
“You could just see an enormous billow of smoke coming off a building in the distance this morning as we opened our hotel door.”
As the Adelaide couple stood in line to buy bread, they noticed scores of gendarmes watching over a petrol station.
Since the fighting started last week, the local authorities reported that about 300 people had been arrested.
