The federal government has sent two military planes to New Caledonia to evacuate Australian tourists stranded in French territory.
Government repatriation flights like these aren't common, so what's going on?
What's happening in New Caledonia?
There have been protests, civil unrest and rioting over the past week.
New Caledonia is currently in a state of emergency, with a nationwide curfew in place between 6pm and 6am.
And its international airport is closed.
Australia's Smart Traveller website has issued "Reconsider your need to travel" advice for the territory.
Why are people protesting in New Caledonia?
Because the French government wants to grant residents who have lived in the territory for at least 10 years the right to vote in provincial elections.
Some local leaders fear this will dilute the vote of the Indigenous Kanak.
The changes aren't law yet, but French President Emmanuel Macron says an agreement must be reached by June.
Voting in provincial elections is currently restricted to people who lived in New Caledonia before 1998, and their children.
This rule was brought in under the 1998 Nouméa Accord and was aimed at giving more representation to the Kanaks.
Where is New Caledonia?
In the Pacific Ocean.
New Caledonia is about 1,500 kilometres east of Queensland.
It takes about two hours to fly to the territory from Brisbane.
[map - new caledonia]Is New Caledonia part of France?
Technically, it's a French overseas territory.
So that means New Caledonians are French citizens, an Australian Department of Foreign Affairs fact sheet says.
But France's President Emmanuel Macron isn't the president of the territory — he's head of state and is represented in New Caledonia by a high commissioner.
New Caledonia was annexed by France in 1853 and officially became a French overseas territory in 1946.
[Map - France and New Caledonia]The territory does have its own president, Louis Mapou.
But the United Nations (UN) classes New Caledonia as a Non-Self-Governing Territory.
The UN defines areas in this category as "territories whose people have not yet attained a full measure of self-government".
New Caledonia is one of 17 territories on the agenda of the UN's Special Committee on Decolonization.
Why is New Caledonia still a French territory?
The territory has had three referendums to vote on its independence, with the result of all three being to remain as a French territory.
However, the result of the most recent vote, held in 2021, is contentious.
That's because it was it boycotted by pro-independence parties due to the coronavirus pandemic — with a low voter turnout of 43.9 per cent.
To put that into context, the voter turnout in 2018 was about 81 per cent and nearly 86 per cent in 2020.
At the time, Mr Macron said the referendum result signalled "a period of transition" for the territory.
ABC with Wires
