Before she had the tough job of keeping the ACT's parliamentarians in line, Joy Burch was the owner-operator of a childcare centre.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr reckoned that experience had set Ms Burch up well for eight years of keeping the Legislative Assembly in check.
"It has been a natural fit to oversee this place over the last eight years," Mr Barr said.
"I think it's fair to say that you have inspired both a deep fondness and occasional fear amongst all members in this place."
From her perch in the chamber where she has sat for half the time she has been a MLA, Ms Burch gave her valedictory speech on Thursday afternoon.
The Labor member for Brindabella will not recontest her seat in the upcoming election, saying she wanted to focus on things outside of politics, including her grandchildren.
Ms Burch was elected to the Assembly in 2008. Before becoming Speaker, she was on the backbench and she was a minister. She held 11 ministries over her time in the Assembly including education, disability, arts and multicultural affairs.
She said over the years she had served there was one constant and that was her community.
"My constant call has been for my community to contact me with their issues no matter how big or how small," Ms Burch said.
Ms Burch reflected on her achievements over the 16 years, including saving Brodburger when it was feared the food van would have to cease operations.
"Brodburger was a little red caravan. I was arts minister and it was being threatened by the serious bureaucracy in planning our city services to move from its original place down on lakeside but I brokered a deal and it now has a permanent home since then at the Glassworks in Canberra," she said.
She also reflected on an embarrassing gaffe after she claimed she accidentally retweeted a post calling former education Minister Christoper Pyne "a c--t".
"I learned to wear glasses when looking at my tweets early on, there's only so many times you can retweet something without getting in strife," Ms Burch said.
Ms Burch resigned from cabinet completely in January 2016 after resigning as police minister in late 2015, following allegations over her chief of staff's contact with Dean Hall, a powerful Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union official.
She is the Assembly's longest-serving speaker. Over the years she said she avoided Labor caucus meetings in order to be independent.
Ms Burch was also a nurse before she entered politics. She spoke about the moment that set her on the path to becoming a nurse.
"One day I had the gumption to ask a regular group of people, ones clearly that work and seemed to have a good life. It was in the 70s, they were hippies so they were very attractive to me," she said.
"I asked them what they did for work. They told me they were nurses and that was it ... I can tell you from that first day on the hospital ward I knew it was the right decision."
Ms Burch said she was not retiring and was open to roles that would allow her to stay in the community. But she did clarify she was not interested in the role of ACT international commissioner for engagement.
