French Polynesia Country Brief - October 2009
Introduction
French Polynesia comprises five archipelagos (Society, Tuamotu, Marquesas, Gambier and Australs) spread over 5.3 million square km in the middle of the South Pacific, approximately 6,000 km east of Australia and 7,500 km west of Chile. The island of Tahiti became a French protectorate in 1842 and France took possession of French Polynesia as a whole in 1880. According to the last census (2007), the population is 264 000.
Government
The Head of State is the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy. The Head of Government is the President of French Polynesia, Oscar Temaru. The High Commissioner of the French Republic in French Polynesia is Adolphe Colrat.
Increasing Autonomy
French Polynesia was designated an Overseas Territory of France in 1946 and given a Territorial Assembly on 25 October 1946. French Polynesia's constitutional status ('Statut') defines its institutions, legal powers and relationship with France. The French Government has amended this Statut several times since 1946.
The government of French Polynesia was given executive responsibility for many areas (including local financial and economic affairs, customs and taxation, tourism, transport, agriculture, fisheries, public works, health, primary and secondary education, social welfare and other internal matters). A new Statut created by an Organic Law (no. 96-312) and accompanying legislation (no. 96-313) on 12 April 1996 gave French Polynesia ‘autonomous status’ and broadened its powers to include control over its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), air and sea transport links, telecommunications and postal services and internal security. French Polynesia was also enabled to negotiate and sign in its own right administrative arrangements and regional cooperation agreements with countries in the Pacific region.
Under amendments made to France’s Constitution in 2003 to decentralise power in France, French Polynesia is allowed - like other parts of France - some greater measures of local self-regulation. However, the constitutional amendments also strongly anchored all the French overseas possessions to the French Republic by including the names of all ten overseas entities in the French Constitution. French Polynesia is among the ‘overseas collectivities’ (collectivités d’outre-mer), which include Wallis and Futuna, which are governed by Article 74 of France’s Constitution. (New Caledonia is governed by Articles 76 and 77).
Pursuant to Article 74, for French Polynesia specifically, a new statut came into force through an Organic Law on 27 February 2004. This strengthened French Polynesia’s degree of autonomy and redefined the former overseas territory as ‘an overseas country within the French Republic’ (pays d’outre-mer - as specified in article 1 of the Organic Law). The position of President of French Polynesia was created and a new electoral system for the Assembly was established.
The French Government is represented in French Polynesia by a High Commissioner, currently responsible for police and justice, monetary policy, tertiary education, immigration, and defence and foreign affairs.
French Polynesia is a parliamentary democracy, with a 57-seat Assembly and an executive headed by a president elected by a simple majority vote within the assembly for a five year term. Assembly members also serve five year terms. French Polynesia uses its own flag, seal and anthem in conjunction with the French national symbols.
Recent political developments
The political environment in French Polynesia has been marked by considerable instability in recent years with seven changes of government since 2004.
The most recent general elections were held in French Polynesia in January and February 2008. Three main political groupings contested the Assembly election: the UPLD independentist coalition which former President, Oscar Temaru, leads; the Tahoera’a Huiraatira party which is led by a long-time political leader, Gaston Flosse (who led French Polynesia for most of the two decades until 2004), and the To Tatou Ai’a coalition, which is led by Gaston Tong Sang.
In the 2008 elections, the former ruling party, the UPLD independentist coalition, lost support. With 38.26% of the vote, the UPLD secured 20 seats; 7 seats fewer than it held previously. The To Tatou Ai’a coalition polled 44.87% to secure 27 seats in the new Assembly. The big loser in terms of seats was Gaston Flosse’s Tahoera’a Huiraatira party, which, after polling 16.88%, lost 7 seats to retain only 10 seats in the new Assembly.
An alliance was assembled involving Gaston Flosse and Oscar Temaru. Flosse was elected to the position of President, with Temaru subsequently elected as Assembly Speaker on 1 March 2008. The government comprised five Tahoera’a and 10 UPLD members. The To Tatou Ai’a coalition, which attracted more party preferred support but which failed to achieve a simple majority was excluded.
Members of Tong Sang’s coalition reacted strongly. Tong Sang led a demonstration of 10,000 in Papeete to protest the election of Flosse, and lodged a legal appeal with the French State Council. Reactions from France were similarly negative – the French governing party, with which Flosse had been affiliated, announced it would sever all ties with him. After the governing alliance was agreed by Flosse and Temaru, UPLD and nine of the 10 Tahoera’a members united to form a new grouping, sitting in the Assembly under the name of Union pour le Development, la Stabilite et la Paix – UDSP (ie Union for Development Stability and Peace). On 15 April 2008, a successful motion of no confidence in the Flosse/Temaru government led to the appointment of Gaston Tong Sang as President.
After only ten months in office, Tong Sang resigned as President on 8 February 2009 ahead of a no-confidence motion against his Government by an alliance of opposition parties. In polling on 12 February 2009, Temaru won 37 of the 57 votes in the Assembly (in the second round of voting) and was elected as President – the fourth time he has held the office in five years. On April 17 2009, following the election of Philip Schyle (To Tatou Ai’a) as Speaker of the Assembly, (previously Edouard Fritch, Tahoera’a Huiraatira), Temaru assembled his fifth government on the basis of a new coalition.
Since the beginning of 2009, Senator (and former President) Gaston Flosse has been under investigation for allegations of corruption and obstruction of the course of justice. A number of people close to him have already been arrested as a result of these investigations.
Economic Overview
Funding from France continues to underpin the economy
French Polynesia’s economy has faced a number of challenges since the conclusion of nuclear testing in 1996, due largely to the country’s limited resources and options for diversification, and to its isolation. Financial transfers from France (around AUD$2 billion in recent years) have made up around 30 per cent of French Polynesia's GDP but in recent years this has risen as high as 60 per cent. Of these transfers, some 83 per cent constitute expenditure on education and research, defence, public service salaries and pensions, with some 17 per cent going directly to the French Polynesian and municipal governments for administration and investment.
Since 2004, the economic activity has been negatively influenced by the political situation, with political instability eroding business confidence. In addition, two mainstays of the economy – pearls and tourism – have under-performed in recent years due to strong competition and declining revenues.
The local economy continues to suffer from its structural weakness and the hypertrophy of the public sector. Revenues in the important tourism sector have dropped by an average of 60 per cent since the onset of the global financial crisis.
Bilateral Relationship
The Australian Consul-General in Noumea is accredited to French Polynesia, and Australia has an Honorary Consul based in Papeete.
Relations between Australia and French Polynesia improved markedly after France ended its nuclear testing program in 1996. Australia provides up to AUD1 million annually to fund vocational training and tertiary degrees in Australia for students from New Caledonia, French Polynesia and Wallis and Futuna. Currently 15 students from these three territories are studying at TAFE Colleges and universities in Australia. Their scholarships are focused on employment needs in mining, tourism and hospitality, aquaculture, agriculture, environmental studies, international relations and trade, information technology and specialised English language.
Visa waiver arrangements negotiated by Australia and France in 1998, and a working holiday-maker arrangement with France from 1 January 2004, have also been beneficial in promoting two-way exchange.
French Polynesia was Australia's sixth largest Pacific market in 2007, with Australian merchandise exports to French Polynesia totalling AUD82 million (including cereal preparations, coffee and coffee substitutes, beef and liquefied propane and butane). But import duties on non-EU products and some quotas restrict Australia's market. Distance and transport costs are other limiting factors. An ongoing program of tax reform, involving the phased elimination of a number of French Polynesian import duties in favour of a Value Added Tax, should make market access conditions more attractive in the longer term, although French exporters will probably continue to enjoy certain practical advantages (including existing relationships and a common language and legal system). In 2007, Australia imported AUD7 million worth of goods from French Polynesia, mostly black pearls. As French Polynesia is currently entitled to 'developing country' status under the Australian Customs Tariff, most French Polynesian goods entering the Australian market are given a five percent reduction on the general tariff rate.
In 2005, Minister for Telecommunication Emile Vernaudon and Minister for the Economy Emile Vanfasse went to Australia on an official visit.
In 2008, the general delegate for the Pacific International Documentary Film Festival Pierre Ollivier went to Australia on an International Cultural Visit, the first visit of this kind to have been organised for a French Polynesia-based organisation.
Since 2006, the Australian Honorary Consul in Papeete has marked ANZAC Day in French Polynesia through low key ceremonies. The 2009 ANZAC Day ceremony was attended by President Temaru.
President Temaru visited Australian in August 2009 to attend the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ in Cairns.
The Speaker of the French Polynesian National Assembly Philip Schyle also visited in August 2009 and met with his Queensland counterpart.
In 2010, the Mayor of Pirae and Member of the French Polynesian National Assembly, Béatrice Vernaudon, will visit Australia as part of the Special Visits Program.
Foreign Relations
French Polynesia maintains close ties with other Pacific island countries and territories, particularly its near Polynesian neighbours, through trading partnerships and other links. French Polynesia was granted Observer status to the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in 2004 and in 2006 attended the PIF for the first time as an Associate Member. French Polynesia is a member of: the Pacific Community (SPC), the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP), the Pacific Islands Development Program (PIDP), and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO), and an associate member of the South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC).
Speaker of the Assembly Philip Schyle is showing a keen interest in regional relations and the Assembly of French Polynesia is in the process of signing a trilateral memorandum of understanding with the Queensland legislative assembly and the New Zealand parliament.
Visitor Information
Australians travelling to French Polynesia are advised to consult the Smartraveller travel advice.
Updated 19 October 2009