First there was the Legislative Council election in Elwick where political newcomer Josh Willie took the seat off high-profile independent incumbent Adriana Taylor.

Then there was the turnover of three House of Representative seats to Labor in the federal election which gave them four of the state’s five seats in the lower house.

“If you look back to the beginning of the year … nobody was really giving Labor a chance of winning another seat in Tasmania,” Mr Green said in an interview with Fairfax Tasmania.

“Most people figured that the profile of the Liberals would get them across the line.”

Mr Green said turnaround was unexpected so early in 2015, considering the comprehensive thrashing the party received from voters in the 2014 election.

“Most people would have assumed that trend would have continued and certainly the polls pointed to that as well,” he said.

Mr Green said over the year, he was proud of how his team had kept the government accountable during the state’s energy crisis and in the key areas of health, education and child protection.

He said the decision by the government to decommission and sell off the combined cycle turbine unit at the Tamar Valley Power Station, so it could receive a $75 million dividend from Hydro, cost the state millions during the crisis.

“We were so far ahead of the game in terms of picking the crisis coming and that some of the stuff the government was doing was foolhardy,” Mr Green said.

During the party’s state conference in November, Mr Green used his address to members to lay out a substantial amount of initiatives and policies that the party would take to voters in 2018.

He said this week that Labor would be cautious in not unrealistically building up expectation which would mean being in touch with health professionals and experts, as well as the community, on what was possible.

Mr Green said the party would fight for an appropriate amount of federal health funding for the state that was allocated on a needs basis, like the Student First – or Gonski – education funding arrangement.

“I still don’t think there is the balance between our funding and the Commonwealth’s funding to ensure that our health system can continue to be contemporary and having our everyday needs rectified,” he said.

Mr Green admitted that the past government had undermined Tafe as a training facility.

“We want to rebuild that whole training system so it’s got the credibility that it once had and we want to see the training dollars that have been exported all over the country back in Tasmania,” Mr Green said.

Mr Green admitted he struggled in popularity polls against Premier Will Hodgman who was younger and without the political baggage he carried himself.

He also fares poorly against younger parliamentary party members Rebecca White and Scott Bacon who are preferred above the political veteran.

“With the Labor-Green government, people effectively saw me as a person that held that together so I’m tarred with that brush to a degree,” Mr Green said.

“Some people would say I was a puppet for the Greens working through forestry issues but I was working very closely with industry through that whole process to put them on a sustainable footing.

“I’ve never been in politics to be the most popular person. I just want to make sure that we get on with things and make a difference.”

He anticipated the Liberal Party would conduct a presidential-style election campaign to make the most of Mr Hodgman’s popularity, whereas Labor would be projected to voters as a team.

He predicted that the Liberals would struggle against the “fresh, new team” that Labor would take to the 2018 election.

And he anticipated personal attacks from his opponents.

“If that’s the way they want to run it, that’s fine because people really want to know how the wider issues will be tackled.”

Mr Green said small swings towards Franklin, Braddon and Bass would ensure seats were returned to Labor in 2018.

“Any fair-minded person would suggest we are there now in terms of winning those seats back – which would mean we would have two seats in each electorate,” he said.

“We’re a little way from winning a third seat.

“We will look to win a majority government but I don’t see us winning in a landslide.”

In the instance of a hung parliament, the Governor will approach Premier Will Hodgman first over the prospect of forming government.

If he passes, it will be up to Labor again – or the prospect of another election.

Mr Green said the Parliamentary Labor Party cannot make the decision to form a coalition government without party member approval.

“Essentially, what the party has directed us to do is not form any coalition which means the only way we can potentially govern is on the floor of the house where essentially each bill is tested on its merits,” he said.

This would result in a fickle arrangement where the government would only stay together with the confidence of the floor of the house.