After "never" expecting to be elected to parliament, missing the new member induction while votes were tallied, Balmain MP Jamie Parker is bowing out having increasing support for the Greens.
Mr Parker was the first Greens MP elected to the NSW Legislative Assembly, and during the past decade has more than doubled his margin.
"When I joined the Greens, I never expected to be elected to anything, especially the NSW parliament," he said in his valedictory speech on Wednesday, to some laughter.
"The Greens may be a small party but we have a big appetite for change."
The former Leichhardt mayor took the seat of Balmain off Labor in 2011, as the party that had been in power for 16 years exited government in a landslide.
"Some, admittedly not very kind people, called it a fluke," he said.
Mr Parker "squeaked over the line by a measly 205 votes", a number he would use as his office pass code for many years.
Two elections later, Mr Parker is still in parliament, and even has a few party colleagues in the lower house.
"The power of the major parties has been steadily whittled away as the people of NSW have chosen to be represented by more and more diverse political colours," Mr Parker said.
"I believe this is overwhelmingly a good thing for politics in NSW."
He extended his thanks to all MPs who showed up for his valedictory speech, noting it's not compulsory.
"To have anyone come apart from my colleague (Newtown Greens MP Jenny Leong), is a win," he said.
Ballina Greens MP Tamara Smith was not in attendance after recently contracting COVID-19.
Mr Parker also thanked retiring South Coast Liberal MP and former speaker Shelley Hancock, who will give her own valedictory speech next week.
"(Ms Hancock) gave me a fair go and she defended me from the worst elements of the parliament when I was new, when I was speaking or asking questions," Mr Parker said.
Many of his biggest achievements were stopping bad ideas from progressing, he said, however the MP teasingly refrained from detailing how.
"I know that's all the good stuff but there are still people who are in this place," he said.
"It will be in the book later on," he promised.
Mr Parker also highlighted the protection and restoration of Balmain's Callan Park, the revitalisation of White Bay power station, a new Glebe ferry route and a school at Ultimo, as well as securing $50 million for green hydrogen projects.
He praised his party securing changes to allow parliament to sit online during the pandemic.
"This was the only non-government bill ... that passed the parliament since my almost 12 years here," he said.
"It's a clear sign of what negotiations in good faith can achieve and what the Greens can deliver in parliament."
Whether the Greens can retain Balmain without him will be revealed when voters go to the polls on March 25.
Or if Mr Parker's initial election is any indicator, a full week later.
