Now she stands as one of the State’s most powerful parliamentarians.

She has changed the political landscape.

No longer is government legislation assured of sailing through the lower house unchanged.

Ms Hickey has secured more funding for women’s health and won tri-partisan support for changing the way parliament starts each day by acknowledging the Aboriginal community.

But it hasn’t all been about Ms Hickey.

he year began with an election campaign that threw up a few surprises.

Labor announced a bold move to remove poker machines from pubs and clubs by 2023.

The Liberals wanted to relax Tasmania’s gun laws.

It was a historic win for Premier Will Hodgman.

He became only the second Liberal Premier to win back-to-back elections.

Mr Hodgman’s personal vote was huge. But the Liberal’s majority was cut to just one.

Despite polling more than 50 per cent of the vote, they lost two seats.

Labor polled just 32 per cent but picked up three seats, including one each in Bass and Braddon.

The Greens’ vote was the lowest in 20 years.

They lost a seat in Bass and now have only two seats in the 25-seat lower house.

Tragic loss.

Mr Hodgman’s election night was dampened by the death of his good friend since childhood and former Attorney-General Dr Vanessa Goodwin.

“Today we lost one of our own, one of our finest and one our state's finest,” Mr Hodgman said in his tally room speech.

Dr Goodwin, who had brain cancer, was held in such high esteem across all sides of politics that Tasmania’s 40-strong contingent at Sydney’s gay mardi gras wore black armbands to honour someone they described as an exceptional human being and fine lawmaker.

While Mr Hodgman was on a high from his election win, the government suffered its first defeat when the new Parliament resumed.

Ms Hickey, the Liberal’s new kid on the block accepted Labor leader Rebecca White’s nomination for Speaker which was seconded by Greens leader Cassy O’Connor.

It sent shockwaves through the parliament and accusations that it was a treacherous act. The government’s nomination, Rene Hidding lost in a secret ballot.

Ms Hickey vowed to be an independent speaker but promised to stay in the Liberal Party. It was a case of history repeating itself.

In 1992, the Liberal government nominated the Premier’s father, the late Michael Hodgman, for the position of Speaker but Liberal Graeme Page won with the support of another of his Liberal colleagues and Labor and the Greens.

If Ms Hickey’s election as Speaker caused an upset, there was more to come when Mr Hodgman told Parliament in October that Sarah Courtney would stand down from her ministerial responsibilities after developing a “personal relationship” with the head of her department.

Ms Courtney and Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment secretary Dr John Whittington had been part of an Asian Trade Mission in September.

An independent review cleared them of any conflict of interest.

Ms Courtney’s relationship with Dr Whittington was found to have been a “minor” breach of the Code of Conduct. The Premier decided the appropriate sanction was counselling.

Labor continues to probe the relationship, particularly Dr Whittington’s decision to work two days a week in Launceston in Ms Courtney’s electorate of Bass.

An Integrity Commission investigation found that Braddon MP and former Mining Minister Adam Brooks lied to the Premier and deleted emails that showed he was involved in a company with mining interests while he was a minister.

It was also revealed that the government had paid $57,888 in legal fees for Mr Brooks as a result of the Integrity Commission’s investigation. However, Mr Brooks said he would repay the legal fees.

The Commission found his conduct did not constitute a material conflict of interest as defined in the Ministerial Code of Conduct.

However, Mr Hodgman relieved Mr Brooks of his Government Whip role and pledged that he would not return to Cabinet for “the foreseeable future”.

In the light of the Integrity Commission report, Mr Brooks, who is adamant he will not resign, is expected to face the powerful House of Assembly’s Privileges Committee in 2019.

Health Minister Michael Ferguson has been in the spotlight over health funding and the lack of abortion services.

So dedicated is he that Mr Ferguson put his hand up for a second stint in the difficult health portfolio.

He has had to answer questions in parliament about over-crowded public hospital emergency departments, delays in patients being treated and ambulance ramping.

Mr Ferguson has made mental health a priority.

Tasmania’s first child and adolescent mental health facilities are due to open in Launceston in September next year. Labor has repeatedly called on Mr Ferguson to resign but he is determined to remain.

He has been under fire for most of the year over the lack of public abortion services which saw women forced to travel to Melbourne.

Angela Williamson was sacked from Cricket Tasmania for tweeting about the lack of abortion services and accused Mr Ferguson of disclosing personal medical information to her former employer, which he vehemently denied. She had been forced to fly to Melbourne to have an abortion.

As Police Minister Mr Ferguson was successful in getting legislation to ban bikies from wearing insignia passed by both houses of parliament - but only just.

The Legislative Council voted 8 to 6 to support the passing of the Police Offences Amendment (Prohibited Insignia) Bill.

It made eight amendments to the government’s legislation.

Ms Hickey crossed the floor 11 times to vote for sweeping reforms to laws affecting transgender and gender diverse Tasmanians.

She sided with Labor and the Greens to support a bill to change the way gender is recorded on birth certificates. Ms Hickey maintained she had done her research and the bill “would not affect 95 per cent of Tasmanians.”

The debate of the bill was delayed in the Legislative Council and will come before the Upper House in March.

If there have been a few headaches along the way for the Hodgman Government, Tasmania's economy is not one of them. Tasmania's economic growth continues to outpace the rest of Australia.

The state recorded its fastest economic growth in a decade in the 2017-18 financial year. The state experienced growth of 4.3 per cent in trend terms in the September 2018 quarter.

But the booming economy has had its downside with many struggling to find a house to rent and rents soaring.

While Treasurer Peter Gutwein is upbeat about the economy he remains steadfast in not lifting the 2 per cent wages cap for public servants.

Teachers, nurses and other public sector workers have had rallies and imposed bans and limitations in pursuit of better wages and conditions.

The dispute shows no sign of being resolved.

So while it has been a year of ups and downs for the Premier, the Liberals did better in the last opinion poll for the year finishing up three points to stand at 39 per cent, compared to Labor’s 35 per cent. But Ms White remains preferred Premier with 46 per cent support compared to Mr Hodgman’s 40 per cent.