Sir Baddeley Devesi (October 16, 1941 – February 16, 2012) was a Solomon Islander politician who served as the first

Governor-General of the Solomon Islands The governor-general of Solomon Islands is the vice-regal representative of the Solomon Islands' monarch, currently King Charles III, in Solomon Islands. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch after their nomination by the National P ...

for two consecutive terms. He was born in

Guadalcanal Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the south-western Pacific, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomon Islands by area, and the seco ...

. He served as the first

from July 7, 1978 to July 7, 1988. Later, he served as Foreign Minister from 1989 to 1990, Interior Minister from 1990 to 1992, and Deputy Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993 and 1997 to 2000, until the government was removed by a coup d'etat. As a leader during the independence, he criticized Britain for its lack of preparation for the handover of autonomy, which ultimately led to the political crises the Solomons have suffered following independence. He quipped that "the empire was leaving behind a system of British justice and Parliament, but for an island nation with 4 volcanoes and 70 languages." In particular he was concerned about the absence of preparation for economic development. In 1993, he addressed the

United Nations General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...

with concerns that the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

did not sufficiently address the issue of

global warming In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

. He was also a strong advocate of the Treaty of Rarotonga. Leading up to the coup, he had strongly recommended to the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

High Commissioner that they send peacekeepers. He encouraged

election observers Election monitoring involves the observation of an election by one or more independent parties, typically from another country or from a non-governmental organization (NGO). The monitoring parties aim primarily to assess the conduct of an electi ...

to ensure an orderly formation of a government after the 2006 election. Baddeley was also, briefly, a teacher and acting head teacher at the Diocese of Melanesia (Anglican) Vera'na'aso Primary School, Maravovo during 1966–67. I remember him well as being immensely proud of his island heritage. (MRDJ, former VSO teacher at Maravovo) He died on 16 February 2012, aged 70.

References

External links

Biography of Sir Baddeley
on the ''Solomon Star'' newspaper website. 1941 births Governors-General of Solomon Islands Leaders of the Opposition (Solomon Islands) Members of the National Parliament of the Solomon Islands People from Guadalcanal Province Knights Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order 2012 deaths Foreign Ministers of the Solomon Islands Health ministers of the Solomon Islands Communication ministers of the Solomon Islands Transport ministers of the Solomon Islands Deputy Prime Ministers of the Solomon Islands {{Solomons-bio-stub