Name Lara Giddings Party Australian Labor Party | ||
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Previous offices Deputy Premier of Tasmania (2008–2011), Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly (1996–1998) | ||
Lara giddings premier of tasmania
Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) is an Australian politician and was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, in addition to being the first woman to hold the position, she is also the most recent Tasmanian Premier born outside Australia. She has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Franklin since the 2002 election, and was the party's leader during her period as premier, replaced by Bryan Green after her government's defeat at the 2014 state election.
Contents
- Lara giddings premier of tasmania
- Giddings becomes first female Tasmanian Premier
- Early years
- Parliamentary career
- ALP politics
- Private life
- Tribute
- References
Giddings becomes first female Tasmanian Premier
Early years
Giddings was born on 14 November 1972 in Goroka, Papua New Guinea. As an adolescent, Giddings was educated at Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) in Melbourne as a boarder. At age 18, she joined the Australian Labor Party.
Parliamentary career
Giddings was first elected to parliament in the 1996 election in the electorate of Lyons but was defeated at the 1998 election. Elected at the age of 23 years she was the youngest woman elected to an Australian Parliament.
Giddings obtained Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Tasmania and went on to work in the Australian Senate as Whip's Clerk, then an electorate officer with Senator Sue Mackay. She travelled to Britain, where she did some temporary administrative work in London, and later worked as a Parliamentary research officer for the Member for Dunfermline East, Helen Eadie, in the Scottish Parliament. Until her return to parliament in 2002, she worked for the Tasmanian Premier as a speech writer and media assistant.
ALP politics
Giddings was elected one of the five members for the Tasmanian House of Assembly Division of Franklin in the 2002 Tasmanian election for the Australian Labor Party. From 2004 to 2006, she was Minister for Economic Development and Minister for the Arts in the Labor government under Paul Lennon. Following the 2006 election, she became Minister for Health and Human Services. Shortly after the election, the State Government decided to proceed with building a replacement for the Royal Hobart Hospital and the significant task of planning the replacement came under Giddings' portfolio. In April 2007, she came under criticism for the poor conditions in the Emergency Department and blamed the federal government for under-funding.
On 26 May 2008, Lennon resigned the leadership of the State Labor Party and premiership, and Deputy Premier, David Bartlett was elected party leader and became Premier, while Giddings was elected Deputy Leader and became Deputy Premier, becoming the second woman in Tasmanian history to hold the position.
On 23 January 2011, Bartlett stepped down as Premier of Tasmania, and stated that "Lara Giddings will be an outstanding Premier and will have my full support". On 24 January, the State Parliamentary Labor Party unanimously elected Giddings party leader, also becoming Premier. She was the first female Premier of Tasmania until her government's defeat on 15 March 2014.
On 14 May 2017, Giddings announced that she would be retiring from politics at the next Tasmanian state election.
Private life
Giddings has stated that pursuit of her political career has meant that she may never have children.Lara Giddings revealed she is pregnant at the age of 44 with the help of egg donor.
Tribute
Giddings' official portrait was unveiled at Parliament House in Hobart in 2016.