13 Facts About Lara Giddings

Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings was born on 14 November 1972 and is an Australian former politician who was the 44th Premier of Tasmania from 24 January 2011 until 31 March 2014, the first woman to hold the position.

Lara Giddings obtained Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from the University of Tasmania.

Lara Giddings was first elected to parliament in the 1996 election in the electorate of Lyons but was defeated at the 1998 election.

Lara Giddings returned to Tasmania at the end of 2000 to work for the Tasmanian Premier as a speech writer and media assistantand then as an electorate officer for the Hon.

Lara Giddings was elected one of the five members for the Tasmanian House of Assembly Division of Franklin in the 2002 Tasmanian election for the Labor Party.

On 26 May 2008, Lennon resigned from the premiership, and Deputy Premier, David Bartlett was elected party leader and became Premier, while Lara 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".

Lara Giddings was the first female Premier of Tasmania until her government's defeat on 15 March 2014.

On 14 May 2017, Lara Giddings announced that she would be retiring from politics at the next Tasmanian state election.

In March 2019, Lara Giddings became chief executive of the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Medical Association.

In 2011, Lara Giddings stated that pursuit of her political career meant that she may never have children.

In September 2017, Lara Giddings announced she was pregnant at the age of 44 with the help of an egg donor.

Lara Giddings was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2024 Australia Day Honours for "distinguished service to the people and Parliament of Tasmania, and to the community".