Transcript
Ministerial visits to New Caledonia follow a formulaic protocol and usually this means first a visit to Noumea's war memorial.
And then there is the imperative to acknowledge the political balance, to meet representatives of all three provinces, the pro- and anti-independence leaders, the customary Kanak Senate, the French administration, industry leaders and the public.
This is a now a well established procedure to consolidate and cherish the peace of the past 30 years. And Mr Philippe also stressed that.
"There is a deep desire of all the parties to give every chance to a dialogue."
In office for half a year, Mr Philippe has picked up the challenge of guiding New Caledonia towards its independence referendum.
Chairing a meeting of the Noumea Accord signatories in Paris a month ago, he succeeded in getting agreement on who will be eligible to be on the restricted referendum roll.
And in Noumea he spoke of the next immediate task.
"And I would like the Congress of New Caledonia to propose a date for the vote and propose the question to be put to the voters in the referendum in 2018."
The vote has to be held by November but Mr Philippe wants Congress to make up its mind by May.
An earlier independence referendum, back in 1987, was boycotted by the indigenous Kanaks and efforts are now being boosted to get as many people to vote as possible.
Lining up for the voter promotion has been France's ten-time judo world champion Teddy Riner.
The sporting super star, originally from Guadeloupe, has been in the limelight in Noumea for days and turned up at Mr Philippe's side.
"It is an opportunity for you, it's an opportunity for the future. It is necessary that as many young people as possible are aware of this."
Outside the expected parameters was part of Mr Philippe's welcome in the Loyalty islands where for the past few days fishing has been banned because of pollution from a wrecked container ship.
Banners reminded Mr Philippe of the damage to the environment, and locals presented him with a bag of the oil residue washed up on the beach.
Back on the track of his political business Mr Philippe wants to push for a better understanding of what the referendum will mean.
Various ideas have seen the light of day but there is no consensus yet of where New Caledonia should be headed.
A call has been made in the past weeks for all sides to sign a declaration before the vote which defines what unites everybody.
Mr Philippe says this needs to be extended well into the future.
"There has to be discussion about what happens after the vote, not only the day after to use that phrase, but the years and decades thereafter whatever the result."
For the time being, there is confusion about what to expect.
While the political frame work is significant, more pressing issues for people in New Caledonia are the economy and security which are related to the uncertainty that has been accompanying this referendum process.
Among much bickering in Noumea, the French government is driving much of the agenda and Mr Philippe has already decided to hold another meeting of the Noumea Accord signatories in March.
