"The French authorities have been providing us with regular updates. The situation is very concerning," Anthony Albanese told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. The prime minister said Canberra had identified 300 Australians who have expressed a desire to leave New Caledonia, where all flights have been suspended since Tuesday. Australia and New Zealand over the weekend requested permission from authorities in the French territory to land planes to repatriate their citizens. "The RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) is certainly ready to go ... The situation on the ground is not allowing for flights to take place at the moment, but we continue to seek that clearance," Albanese said. Two Australian tourists, Maxwell and Tiffany Winchester, told AFP they had been confined to their resort halfway between the capital Noumea and the airport since they were due to leave New Caledonia on Tuesday. "We are getting very low on food," Maxwell Winchester said, adding that "hotel staff are going to the black market to try to get supplies". He described blocked roads preventing deliveries and nights disturbed by fires and the sound of clashes. New Caledonia has been rocked by deadly rioting since a new bill was introduced in Paris that would allow French residents who have lived in the territory for at least a decade to vote in local elections. Local political leaders, including pro-independence figures, fear the move will dilute the power of the indigenous Kanak people. The French state's representative in New Caledonia, Louis Le Franc, on Monday hailed the success of an operation to retake control of a key road linking the capital of the French overseas territory to the airport. "This operation was a success with 76 barricades neutralised thanks to the mobilisation of the internal security forces, private companies and the material resources deployed on the ground," he said. Le Franc said "nearly 240 demonstrators" had been arrested since the violence began. French authorities on Saturday night announced the deployment of an additional 600 security force personnel to New Caledonia, adding to the more than 2,700 already in the Pacific territory. Le Franc said Monday morning had again been "marked by a large fire and looting", without providing further details. French President Emmanuel Macron has called a new meeting of his defence and national security council for 6:30 pm (1730 GMT) in Paris on Monday. Also Read: New Caledonia: France to send 600 more security personnel