In This Issue

THE RAROTONGA MEETINGS Roy Vaughan -J /> reports from Rarotonga, Cook Islands, on the August * " meeting of the South Pacific Forum, and on the Pacific Islands Conference which followed immediately after in the Cooks capital.

FOURTH FESTIVAL OF PACIFIC ARTS Victor OO Carell looks at the cultural side of this year’s presentation in French Polynesia and finds little grounds for complaint (p3O), but Marie-Therese and Bengt Danielsson, looking at the politics of it all, see strong signs of opportunism and manipulation.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA S FIRST 10 YEARS Dr OO Hank Nelson writes on Papua New Guinea’s first 10 years of independence from Australia, and finds that, given the magnitude of the task attempted, the successes achieved are more suprising than the failures.

French Senators Look New Caledonia Oc

OVER Sue Williams reports from Noumea on the recent visit of a special commission of the French Senate which reached the general conclusion that whatever the political complexion of the government in Paris, no fundamental changes can now be made to the course advocated in the Fabius Plan.

ISLANDS WOMEN IN CONFERENCE Bill Coppell Oy reports on a meeting of Islands and Australian women ■ in Sydney which, as well as highlighting nuclear dangers, sent a strong and many-layered message to regional governments.

STORY OF THE ONMA II The commission of A*\ inquiry into the sinking of the Vanuatu inter-island ***vessel Onma II during Cyclone Eric in January, with the loss of eight lives, has published its report. It has set alarm bells ringing among insurance companies doing business throughout the islands.