Rick Houenipwela
The Right Honourable Rick Houenipwela Stanley Sofu | |
---|---|
Succeeded by | Alfred Ghiro |
Member of Parliament for Small Malaita | |
Assumed office 4 August 2010 | |
Preceded by | William Nii Haomae |
Personal details | |
Born | 8 August 1958 |
Political party | Democratic Alliance Party |
Rick Houenipwela, more commonly known as Rick Hou, (born 8 August 1958)
He has a Bachelor's degree in commerce and accounting from the Papua New Guinea University of Technology and served as the governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands from 1993 to 2008,[3] before becoming Senior Advisor to the Executive Director of the World Bank, and then going into politics. The Solomon Times described him as "one of the key public figures in the Solomon Islands whose credibility is intact, if not enhanced, after resisting corruption and several attempts by fraudsters to bankrupt the nation during the ethnic conflict" of the early 2000s.[1][4]
The magazine Islands Business named him "Man of the Year" for the Pacific region in 2003, at a time when he was Governor of the Central Bank.[5] ABC Radio's Sean Dorney described him in 2011 as a critic of excessive exploitation of the country's forests, a modest man who had shown "strength [...] over the years in standing up to those who have exploited the country. He took a courageous stand in defending the Central Bank from extortion in the face of considerable intimidation from those with the guns during the worst of the ethnic tensions".[6]
His career in national politics began when he was elected to
In early November 2011, several ministers joined or rejoined the Opposition, ultimately bringing down the government. On November 9, three ministers returned to the Opposition. The following day, Rick Hou joined them. On the day after that, Prime Minister
In April 2015, he took a stand in Parliament against members of Parliament being exempted from paying income tax. He stated that he would refuse his own tax exemption.[12]
References
- ^ a b c Biography on the website of Parliament
- ^ Houenipwela sworn in as Prime Minister
- ^ "Central Bank of Solomon Islands: Governor". June 9, 2007. Archived from the original on June 9, 2007.
- ^ a b "Hou Sworn in as Finance Minister", Solomon Times, 22 November 2011
- ^ "Solomon Islands: ON AN IMPRESSIVE RUN", Islands Business
- ^ "Returning stability to the Solomons", ABC Radio Australia, 4 December 2011
- ^ "Abana is new Opposition leader" Archived 2011-07-16 at the Wayback Machine, Solomon Star, 1 September 2010
- ^ "Ministers axed: Replacement sworn in" Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine, Solomon Star, 19 April 2011
- ^ "PM Resigns" Archived April 2, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, Solomon Star, 11 November 2011
- ^ "Hon. Rick Houenipwela | National Parliament of Solomon Islands". www.parliament.gov.sb.
- ^ "Hou’s vision" Archived November 23, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Solomon Star, 22 November 2011
- ^ "Solomon Islands MP Rick Hou to refuse tax-free salary", Radio Australia, 1 May 2015