Wallis & Futuna Country Brief - June 2009
Introduction
Wallis and Futuna comprises three volcanic tropical islands and a number of tiny islets located between Fiji and Samoa in the South Pacific Ocean. The territory is split between two island groups lying about 260km apart.
Political Overview
Government
Wallis and Futuna is an Overseas Territory of France, with the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy, as Head of State. Its constitutional status (statut) is set by a law of the French Republic (Law No. 61-814 of 29 July 1961, as amended). The French Senior Administrator (Préfet) holds executive authority in the territory, except over issues which are traditionally the preserve of customary leaders. The Senior Administrator is responsible to the French Minister for Overseas France and is ex-officio President of the Territorial Council, composed of the three kings (paramount chiefs) of the territory and of three members appointed by the Senior Administrator with the approval of the elected Territorial Assembly. The Territorial Assembly has 20 members with five-year terms. It has legislative power over a limited range of local matters. Personal, custom and religious loyalties play an important role in territorial politics.
An election for membership of the Territorial Assembly was held on 1 April 2007. The participation rate was high – some 74 per cent of the 11,165 enrolled voters cast ballots. Representatives of many different candidate groups (‘lists’) were elected; two of the twenty were women. The new Speaker, Victor Brial, from the UMP (the party of French President Nicolas Sarkozy), was elected on the first day of the Budget session on11 December, with the support of 13 of the Assembly’s 20 members, replacing Pesamino Taputai.
Philippe Paolantoni currently holds the office of Senior Administrator (since September 2008). In the French Parliament, Wallis and Futuna is represented in the Senate by Senator Robert Laufoaulu (elected during the French Senate elections in September 2008) and in the National Assembly by Deputy Albert Likuvalu.
There appears to be little local sentiment in favour of independence from France.
Custom plays an important role
A local customary administration co-exists with the French and territorial political institutions. The three monarchies embody the traditional paramount chiefdoms, one on Wallis (Uvea) and two on Futuna (Sigave and Alo). The kings receive a salary from the French Government. Their customary authority is generally respected. They can be replaced by customary means should they lose the respect and allegiance of their people. They hold authority over land ownership and use.
The Catholic Church is also very influential in Wallis and Futuna, including in education.
The current King of Wallis, Kapiliele Faupala, was crowned in July 2008, replacing his predecessor Kulimoetoke who died in May 2007 after ruling Wallis since 1959. It was Kulimoetoke who signed a pact with France in 1961 which granted Wallis and Futuna the official status of “French Overseas Territory”. Conflict between the chiefly tribes of Wallis delayed the recent coronation of the current King and is still simmering.
Economic Overview
A small, subsistence economy
Local economic activity is essentially limited to traditional subsistence agriculture, fishing and some livestock breeding (mainly pigs). Even so, the territory does not produce enough food to meet local demand - foodstuffs represent around one-third of its imports. Building materials are the other main import. Unemployment is the territory's most pressing economic and social problem, with only an estimated 1,800 of the Territory's 15,000 inhabitants in formal employment (over half of those are in the public sector). Some revenue is provided by remittances from relatives living in New Caledonia, having migrated for work or education.
Financial support from France
Wallis and Futuna is thus heavily dependent on financial support (some A$140 million per annum) from France - the French Government directly funds many services (such as health, education and public service salaries) and provides a grant each year to balance the budget. In January 2002, an "economic orientation agreement" set out broad priorities for the future economic development of Wallis and Futuna. In February 2007, the Territory signed with France the latest in a series of five-year ‘Development Contracts’ (to cover 2007-2011), including funding for youth training, economic development, infrastructure projects, environmental management, improvement of social and health facilities and reinforcement of the Territory's cultural identity. An important feature of the 2007-2011 Contract will be upgrading of the airstrip on the island of Futuna.
Bilateral Relations
The Australian Consul-General in Noumea is accredited to Wallis and Futuna. In 1997, Australia's training assistance program was extended to Wallis and Futuna. Australia continues to provide scholarships to applicants from the Territory, as part of its $1 million per annum development assistance program of scholarships for students from the French Pacific entities. This scholarships program is administered through the Australian Consulate-General in Noumea.
Bilateral economic and trade relationship
Australian merchandise exports to Wallis and Futuna in 2007-08 totalled $5.638 million (principally preserved meat, animal feed and cereal preparations). Australia did not receive any imports from Wallis and Futuna during this period.
Foreign Relations
Pacific Community an important point of regional contact
Wallis and Futuna is a member of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Island Development Fund, and the South Pacific Tourism Organisation and an associate member of the South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP). Wallis and Futuna participated in the preparatory meetings of the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Convention (WCPFC). France, and through it Wallis and Futuna, is a member of the Convention.
In 2006, the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) invited Wallis and Futuna to become a Forum Observer.
The territory's other regional contacts are minimal, except with the other French entities, New Caledonia and French Polynesia. A framework agreement governing institutional relations between Wallis and Futuna and New Caledonia was signed in December 2003 in France. The agreement commits New Caledonia and France to support the economic development of Wallis and Futuna, particularly regarding access to employment, social services and health arrangements.
Visitor Information
Australian passport holders, travelling on holidays or business for stays of up to 90 days, can enter Wallis and Futuna without a visa. Air Calédonie International (Air Calin) runs flights to and from New Caledonia and Fiji, and between Wallis and Futuna Islands.
Further information (in French) on Wallis and Futuna can be obtained from the French Government web site. See also its constitutional status (in French).
Australians travelling to Wallis and Futuna are advised to consult the Smartraveller travel advice.