Question for New Caledonia independence referendum agreed with France

Voters will be asked: "Do you want New Caledonia to accede to full sovereignty and become independent?"

The prime minister Edouard Philippe made the announcement in Paris after extended discussions with the signatories to the Noumea Accord which lasted until after midnight.

He said the wording is a compromise accommodating the wish of the pro-independence camp to include the term sovereignty.

The anti-independence camp wanted the question to include whether voters wanted to stay French.

The vote on 4 November will be restricted to long-term residents under a recently amended law. ■