| The Right Honourable Hilda Kari MP |
|
|---|---|
| Minister of Forests, Conservation and the Environment | |
| In office 1993 – 2001? |
|
| Minister for Women, Youth and Sports | |
| In office ? – ? |
|
| Member of Parliament for North East Guadalcanal |
|
| In office 1989–1993 |
|
| Preceded by | Waita Ben Tabusasi |
| Succeeded by | Baddley Devesi |
| Member of Parliament for East Central Guadalcanal |
|
| In office 1994–2001 |
|
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | Nollen Leni |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | OUR Party[1] |
Hilda Kari is a Solomon Islands politician.
Educated in Australia, she is a senior health administrator, and President of the National Council of Women, an organisation dedicated to encouraging and facilitating women's participation in politics.[2] [3]
She is the first (and so far only) woman to have been elected Member of the National Parliament of Solomon Islands.[4] [5] She successfully contested the 1989 bye-election for the North East Guadalcanal seat caused by MP Waita Ben Tabusasi vacating his seat to become Speaker. She was re-elected, as MP for East Central Guadalcanal, in the 1994 general election, and again in 1997, thus serving until 2001.[6] [7] [8] [9] She served for a time as Minister of Forests,Conservation and the Environment, reportedly from 1993 to 2001.[10] (These dates seem doubtful, however, as there were several changes of government between 1993 and 2001.) She has also been Minister for Women, Youth and Sports.[11]
She stood unsuccessfully in the 2010 general election for the seat of North East Guadalcanal. Reacting to the fact that no women had been elected, she described the overall result as "a real slap on the face for women in this country", and was particularly critical of women voters who, in her view, displayed a lack of "trust" in women candidates.[12] [13]