Tasmania gets first woman Premier

Lara Giddings. Photo / Facebook

Tasmania's turbulent politics yesterday gave the state its first female Premier after the shock resignation on Facebook of predecessor and IT expert David Bartlett.

Deputy Premier Lara Giddings, 36, was elected unopposed as leader by the minority Labor Government, which rules with the support of the Greens.

She replaces 43-year-old Bartlett, who resigned to devote more time to his family after governing for less than 12 months of a four-year term, despite promising to bring renewed political stability to Tasmania.

Giddings has the full support of the Greens, continuing the deal that put Labor back in power through a promise not to block supply in return for two ministries.

After being sworn in by State Governor Peter Underwood, Giddings said that as a "down-to-earth, straight-forward and determined" person, she would bring her own style and passion to the job. Giddings said she was determined to deliver stability, as voters had demanded at the last election when they made it clear they did not want one single party in power, but for politicians to work cooperatively together.

Like Bartlett before her, Giddings is a political comet.

After gaining arts and law degrees from the University of Tasmania and working for MPs in Canberra and Scotland, she became Australia's youngest female MP when elected to the state Parliament at age 23 in 1996. Dumped at the next election but returning in 2002 as MP for the Hobart electorate of Franklin, Giddings was state Attorney-General and held the portfolios of justice, economic development, infrastructure and health before becoming Deputy Premier and Treasurer.

Papua New Guinean-born Giddings has conceded that success has come at a price. In an interview with the Hobart Mercury two years ago she said she was in politics for the long haul and was putting her job before her personal life. "I'm like a lot of Generation X women who are heading into their late 30s, are still single, whose biological clock is ticking away, and who are thinking, 'I would like to have children some day'," she told the Mercury.

"I would love to have children one day and that does play on my mind. But, while I do think about the future, it may be that I end up never having children."

Bartlett made exactly the opposite decision, announcing his decision to quit on Facebook on Sunday night.

"Working seven days a week and wanting to be a better father for Hudson [7] and Matilda [5] has become incompatible as the children are growing up. Lara Giddings will be an outstanding Premier and will have my full support. Regards, David."

Later, in a backyard interview, Bartlett pointed to Hudson's school journal to explain his decision. "There were too many entries that said 'my daddy went to work this weekend'. He has expressed to me how he hates going out in public with me because I talk with everyone, but not him."

Elected to Parliament in 2004, he became Education Minister before being appointed Deputy Premier in 2008 and, a month later, Premier after crippling polls prompted the resignation of predecessor Paul Lennon.

Bartlett leaves Giddings a legacy of years of turmoil and poor recent polling for both Labor and the Greens.

Giddings' new deputy, Bryan Green, moved to the back benches five years ago after allegations involving government contracts forced his resignation from the same job, although juries in two Supreme Court trials could not reach a decision.

Another former Deputy Premier and minister, Steve Kons, quit in 2008 after he lied to Parliament, Lennon baled after bad polls, ill-health forced former Premier Jim Bacon to resign and former Economic Development Minister Paula Wriedt was dumped after having an affair with her driver.

Yesterday Tasmanian Liberal leader Will Hodgman said Bartlett's resignation was another of Labor's broken promises.

But Giddings' elevation was welcomed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and by Greens leader Nick McKinn, who confirmed that his party's deal with Labor would continue.