The central voice behind New Caledonia's Indigenous Kanaky pro-independence movement, which continues to call for full, sovereign independence from France, was denied an eleventh-hour request to attend talks remotely ahead of the signing of a new accord in Paris on Monday.

The Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front, which has the majority of support from Indigenous New Caledonian people, had previously boycotted the talks over the notion that undisputed independence was off the discussion table.

Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front President, Christian Tein, had been highly critical before the talks before a late change of heart.

"Paris is deaf - it doesn't want to hear anything," he said.

"It only understands the balance of power, which is why we will not go to the meeting."

Mr Tein said the discussion in Paris should have only been between the French state and the pro-independence movement which is supported by two of the four National Union of Independence political parties — the Party of Kanak Liberation and the Melanesian Progressive Union — a separate component of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.

"The solution must be found here in our country, between the (French) state and the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front," he added.

"We are open to discussion, and to an agreement, but for us, it's the Kanaky agreement."

New Caledonia's other five parliamentary parties — including three which staunchly oppose any form of independence and want to remain an overseas territory of the French republic — all agreed to a new political and financial agreement with France's President Emmanuel Macron.

The Elysée - Oudinot Accord was signed after "three days of in-depth discussion conducted in a spirit of demanding and respectful dialogue", according to President Macron, which included late night negotiations on both Saturday and Sunday.

The deal is based around agreements initially discussed in Bougival in July 2025, which includes several new amendments to the earlier text which was blocked by Indigenous pro-independence parties, headed by the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front.

Kanaks make up a little more than 40 per cent of New Caledonia's 270,000 residents, which includes French nationals that Paris is looking to allow to vote in future Pacific referendums.

President Macron expressed his "gratitude" to the New Caledonian participants in Paris over their sense of "compromise" and "responsibility" in the wake of recent "unacceptable threats that several of you have been subjected to" in recent times across social media networks.

Most notable additions to the accord's text are related to New Caledonia's institutional future developments.

Some of these were directly related to Indigenous Kanak peoples' identity, and a reaffirmation of what was already written and enshrined in the 1998 Nouméa Accord preamble.

The new text goes further to introducing the notion of a "Caledonian identity", which is supposed to "allow all [New] Caledonians to form a people".

Other related amendments include the implementation of an "organic law" and a "fundamental law", as in a de facto constitution for New Caledonia.

The initial text signed in Bougival, France last year had included the notion of a "State of New Caledonia" with its associated "nationality", albeit conditioned to the prior possession of the French citizenship.

Another paragraph in the latest accord pledges to work on New Caledonia's "attractiveness for the purpose of its economic development" and to give relevant powers to its three provinces to achieve this goal.

A new notion addressed in Paris is to enhance the capacity of the North, South, and Loyalty Islands group provinces to raise their own taxes.

Other topics discussed included self-determination, key powers including defence, security, external relations, justice and currency, and how they should be exerted in the future, which is associated with training New Caledonians in diplomacy, military, law enforcement, judiciary, and finance areas.

Paris has also agreed to hand New Caledonia dire financial relief in the form of a "summary of conclusions" and the way France intends to assist in the future through a "refoundation" pact to the tune of €2.2 billion over the next five years.

However, New Caledonia's institutions would still have to pursue their own efforts, which has already started in terms of economic reforms and cost-cutting.

New Caledonia's economy has been left in a dire situation following political and social riots which broke out in May 2024, however a pledge from the French to convert past heavy loans into grants will relieve Noumea's burden.

The new agreement still has to go through the French parliament and a referendum vote in New Caledonia, which is scheduled for the end of 2026.

If the accord receives sufficient support from parliament it will turn to the already-postponed provincial elections, which have been scrapped three times since May 2024.