Suzanne Deidre Napier (née Braid; 1 January 1948 – 5 August 2010) was an Australian politician. She was a member of the

Tasmanian House of Assembly The House of Assembly, or Lower House, is one of the two chambers of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. The other is the Tasmanian Legislative Council, Legislative Council or Upper House. It sits in Parliament House, Hobart, Parliament Hou ...

for the

Division of Bass The Division of Bass is an Divisions of the Australian House of Representatives, Australian electoral division in Tasmania. It includes most of the city of Launceston, Tasmania, Launceston and its surrounds. It has traditionally been a margin ...

. Napier was first elected in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006. She was born on New Years Day, 1948, in

Latrobe, Tasmania Latrobe is a town in northern Tasmania, Australia on the Mersey River (Australia), Mersey River. It is 8 km south-east of Devonport, Tasmania, Devonport on the Bass Highway (Tasmania), Bass Highway. It is the main centre of the Latrobe Co ...

, the daughter of

Tasmanian Legislative Council The Tasmanian Legislative Council is the upper house of the Parliament of Tasmania in Australia. It is one of the two Chambers of parliament, chambers of the Parliament, the other being the Tasmanian House of Assembly, House of Assembly. Both ho ...

member Harry Braid. She was leader of the Liberal Party from 2 July 1999 until 20 August 2001. She became the leader of the opposition when former Premier

Tony Rundle Anthony Maxwell Rundle AO (5 March 1939 – 4 April 2025) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Tasmania from March 1996 until September 1998. He succeeded Ray Groom and was succeeded himself by Jim Bacon. He was a Liberal wh ...

resigned and she defeated leadership aspirant Bob Cheek in a party room ballot. Cheek successfully challenged Napier's leadership two years later. She was the first woman to lead the Tasmanian Liberals and the first woman to lead any major political party in Tasmania. During her career Napier served in many portfolios including transport, youth affairs, education and opposition portfolios of business, tourism, health and infrastructure as well as Deputy Premier. Napier was diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a Breast lump, lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, Milk-rejection sign, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipp ...

in late 2008, but responded well to treatment and recovered in 2009. In February 2010, she announced that she would retire from parliament and not contest the 2010 Tasmanian election after it was discovered that the cancer had returned. She died from breast cancer on 5 August 2010, aged 62.ABC notice of Sue Napier's death
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''Parliament of Tasmania'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Napier, Sue 1948 births 2010 deaths Members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Tasmania Deputy premiers of Tasmania University of Tasmania alumni Alumni of the University of Leeds Deaths from breast cancer in Australia Deaths from cancer in Tasmania People from Latrobe, Tasmania Leaders of the opposition in Tasmania 21st-century Australian politicians 21st-century Australian women politicians Women members of the Tasmanian House of Assembly