It was 2002 and the Liberals had been decimated in that year's election - so much so that the party's leader Bob Cheek failed to keep his seat.

Despite the dismal result, Mr Hidding said he had no worries about leading an opposition that was seemingly in tatters with just seven members on the benches - four of whom were newly elected.

"It was almost comic relief as there was a feeling that things could not get worse than this," he said.

The election had resulted in the entry of Will Hodgman, Jeremy Rockliff and Peter Gutwein into state politics.

Mr Hidding said he felt a sense of opportunity from being the leader of a fresh-faced team with a chance to rebirth and a determination to rebrand themselves as a hard and effective opposition. "An opposition can be most effective when it minimises its mindless attacks," he said.

"When you have a mission or a view that something is being done wrong, and you've done the research and know you are right, you can do the government a lot of damage. And we did the government a lot of damage over the worst decision they ever made which was a secret pokies deal in the middle of the night."

The Labor Government in 2003 decided to grant Federal Hotels with a 20-year extension on an exclusive licence to operate poker machines in the state.

This was done without obtaining a market value on the licence or putting it out to open tender.

The secret deal was forensically examined by the Public Accounts Committee of which Mr Hidding was a member. He said he was disappointed that he was not able to get Parliament's support for the true value of the deal to be analysed.

"I feel that could have upended that deal," Mr Hidding said.

The second hit on the government came from the BetFair sale scandal.

Mr Hidding said though there was never any evidence to suggest then Premier Paul Lennon had behaved in a corrupt or improper manner, there was a perception that he could have. Then came the controversial appointment of Richard Butler as the state's new governor which Mr Hidding said soon became "clearly unsustainable".

When Government House staff walked off the job due to difficulties with Mr Butler and his wife, the third time they had done so, he spoke out in an interview and threatened to withdraw support for Mr Butler to remain in the position.

A day later, Mr Butler flew back to Tasmania from Sydney, met with Mr Lennon, announced his resignation, and left the position with a $650,000 payout.

Despite the controversies over Labor's term, Mr Hidding said he believed he had no chance of becoming premier when the 2006 election rolled around.

"We were coming off a very low base," he said.

"We thought it would be a complete hoot if we even came close. It would have been a complete political miracle if we won."

As expected, the election was lost and Mr Hidding stepped down as leader to make way for Mr Hodgman, though in a rare move, remained on the frontbench.

But he would still have to wait eight more years to become part of a government again.

Despite winning more votes than Labor in the 2010 election, the Liberals remained in opposition after Premier David Bartlett was instructed by Governor Peter Underwood to test the minority government on the floor of the house.

Greens leader Nick McKim had guaranteed confidence and supply and he and Cassy O'Connor eventually, for the first time in Tasmanian political history, were appointed cabinet ministers.

"A few of us were understandably bitter for a while because we thought our time had come," Mr Hidding said.

"We then had four years of razor-sharp focus on winning government."

The 2014 election campaign focused on what the Liberals labelled as a lack of fiscal restraint from Labor, the state's worsening economic conditions, the Tasmanian Forestry Agreement and perceived failings of the co-operative government. The party also went into the campaign with a clearly articulated action plan for the next four years.

The campaign was successful and Mr Hidding was rewarded with prized ministerial portfolios, including infrastructure.

He said one of his first pieces of business was to reverse a plan for the Spirit of Tasmania to essentially become a freight operator with passenger cruises a secondary business.

Mr Hidding said the TT-Line board was unhappy with his stance but he continued to pressure the company to meet a policy obligation to increase and sustain visitation to Tasmania.

He said the vessels were updated, sailings and tourist numbers increased, company profits grew and a business case to buy new ships became clearer with minimal government input.

He said by the time the 2018 election was on, he felt he'd achieved all he wanted to as minister and he nominated for Speaker.

Mr Hidding's family was present in Parliament the day Labor and the Greens made their nomination of Liberal backbencher Sue Hickey which she accepted.

"I was more gutted that I was stupid enough to invite my family down," he said.

"I had half a feeling that was on. Then I became disturbed about the potential impacts this would have on majority government."

Despite his retirement this year, it is understood Mr Hidding might be considering a return to politics with a run in the Legislative Council seat of Rosevears next year. Mr Hidding has not yet confirmed if he is considering taking part in the election, however.