Larissa Tahireh "Lara" Giddings (born 14 November 1972) 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.
Born in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, she was a Labor Party member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly seat of Franklin from 2002 to 2018, 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.
As an adolescent, Giddings was educated at Methodist Ladies' College (MLC) in Melbourne as a boarder.
[3] Lara returned to Tasmania at the end of 2000 to work for the Tasmanian Premier (Jim Bacon) as a speech writer and media assistant[citation needed]and then as an electorate officer for the Hon.
In April 2007, she came under criticism for the poor conditions in the Emergency Department and blamed the federal government for under-funding.
[11] In March 2019, Giddings became chief executive of the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Medical Association (AMA).