Rick Houenipwela
Rick Houenipwela, more commonly known as Rick Hou, (born 8 August 1958) is a politician, and the immediate past Prime Minister of Solomon Islands from 15 November 2017 to 24 April 2019.

He has a Bachelor's degree in accounting, and served as the governor of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands from 1993 to 2008, 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.

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. 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".

His career in national politics began when he was elected to Parliament as the member for Small Malaita in the August 2010 general election, standing as a member of the Democratic Party. Party leader Steve Abana became Leader of the Opposition, and appointed Houenipwela Shadow Minister for Finance and the Treasury. In early April 2011, having been ousted from the leadership of the Opposition, Abana defected to Prime Minister Danny Philip's government, bringing with him several members of the Opposition, including Houenipwela. The latter was appointed Minister for Public Service.

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 Danny Philip sacked Finance Minister Gordon Darcy Lilo, reportedly for conspiring with the Opposition. Hours later, Philip announced his own resignation, as he clearly no longer had the numbers with which to govern. On November 16, Parliament chose Lilo to replace him. Lilo appointed Hou as his Minister of Finance of the Solomon Islands. Upon his appointment, Houenipwela told the "Solomon Star" he would seek to exempt "low paid workers" from paying tax, while also "lower[ing] the tax rates to enable companies to be profitable". There would be increased government support and investment in "productive sectors", including agriculture, tourism and fisheries.

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.
Q1425954
Prime Minister
PER
Q685
Solomon Islands
LOC
Q4116214
accounting
Concept
Q1777295
Central Bank of Solomon Islands
ORG
Q7164
World Bank
Concept
None
ethnic conflict
UNK
Q6083701
Islands Business
MEDIA
Q781365
ABC Radio
ORG
Q727851
Parliament
LOC
None
Small Malaita
UNK
Q7558672
August 2010 general election
Concept
Q5255692
Democratic Party
ORG
Q466573
Steve Abana
PER
Q17052688
Leader of the Opposition
PER
Q561575
Danny Philip
PER
Q561575
Danny Philip
PER
Q939825
Gordon Darcy Lilo
PER
Q104859607
Minister of Finance of the Solomon Islands
UNK
Q7558750
Solomon Star
MEDIA
Q179222
income tax
Concept
Q7331464
Rick Houenipwela
PER
1958-08-08T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
8 August 1958
DATE
2017-11-15T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
15 November 2017
DATE
2019-04-24T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
24 April 2019
DATE
1993-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
1993
DATE
2008-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2008
DATE
2000-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2000
DATE
2003-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2003
DATE
2011-01-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
2011
DATE
2010-08-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
August 2010
DATE
2011-04-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
April 2011
DATE
2011-11-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
November 2011
DATE
2015-04-01T00:00:00Z^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#dateTime
April 2015
DATE
+9^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
9
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+16^^http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#decimal
16
NUMBER
position held
country of citizenship
date of birth
member of political party
country
office held by head of government
head of government