Andrew Nori

Who is Andrew Nori?

Andrew Nori was a Solomon Islands lawyer and politician, arguably best known for his role in the ethnic conflict on Guadalcanal in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

His father, Nori Nono'oohimae, was one of the founders of the Maasina Ruru movement of civil disobedience against British colonial rule, in the 1940s.

A barrister by profession, Andrew Nori was "one of the first Solomon Islanders to qualify as a lawyer", and eventually became president of the Solomon Islands bar association.

He began his political career when he was elected to the National Parliament in the 1984 general election, as MP for the West 'Are'are constituency. Prime Minister Sir Peter Kenilorea appointed him Minister for Home Affairs and Provincial Government, a position which he held for four years. He was re-elected in 1989, and, as head of the Nationalist Front for Progress, was for a time appointed Leader of the Official Opposition to Prime Minister Solomon Mamaloni's government. Re-elected to Parliament for a third term in 1993, he was appointed Minister for Finance in Prime Minister Francis Billy Hilly's government.