Mr Smyth surrendered his position as a long-standing Liberal MLA to take on the job which was offered to him by the Labor government, not filled through an open selection process and came with a $300,000 annual salary.

If the job is the result of a Machiavellian plot dreamt up in a Labor Party war room in a bid to unseat a popular Opposition member and loosen the Liberal's stranglehold on Tuggeranong ahead of the October election, Smyth reckons it's not for him to say.

"I can't comment on the genesis or why people did this, all I know is that it was set up to get the ACT overseas. It was set up to make sure that we improve our reputation, that we're seen as a prestigious place to visit, live, invest and come and find solutions and ideas and I've taken the job on the basis of that," he said.

"It is very clearly a position that is required. NSW has 65 people doing this job, that's how important they see it, with staff overseas. Victoria has 25 staff based in Melbourne and other staff around the world. They're not doing it for fun or some kind of job-creation scheme, they're doing it because it has to be done."

The most Smyth will concede is that he doesn't feel like a pawn in a political game by Labor.

"I made a decision for me. And, no, I don't feel manipulated at all," he said.

"If you're being manipulated, than the answer would have been 'no'. These jobs come up rarely. To be the inaugural Commissioner for International Engagement is an honour. I think it matches a lot of the skills I've got and I intend to do a very good job of it."

Mr Smyth is no political novice. He first foray into federal politics was in 1995. He has 18 years' experience in the Assembly and a year in Federal Parliament. He dead-bats most questions around the controversy of his appointment, saying he wasn't looking for the job, it came to him, and the process of how the appointment was made was removed from him.

His past days as a politician able to pull the government up when required are already far behind him.

"As a member of the ACT public service, I work for the government," he said.

Mr Smyth said he had no thoughts of leaving the Assembly and was preparing for the October election in which he was likely to be re-elected to represent Brindabella, when he was approached by Enterprise Canberra deputy director-general Jeff House to consider taking on the newly-created position of Commissioner for International Engagement. Enterprise Canberra is within the Chief Minister's department with a mission to "improve the liveability and productivity of the city".

"Just the week before, I bought $700 or $800 worth of Brendan Smyth T-shirts which I'll now use for gardening. So I wasn't looking for anything. It found me."

Mr Smyth is still a member of the Liberal Party and said there have been "mixed views" from people within the party about his departure from the Assembly.

"[Liberal leader] Jeremy [Hanson] was gracious on the day and I'm grateful for that and appreciative of that. But I think people understand how important this job is. People have said to me they're very pleased I got the job and very hopeful and confident I'll do it well," he said.

Mr Smyth concedes being in Opposition for 15 years was frustrating and said it was difficult to leave office when the Liberals may have a good chance of taking government in October.

But he denies the decision was made easier because of bad blood between himself and Mr Hanson.

"I was offered the job, I considered it and decided it was something I could do for the benefit of Canberra and was something I was intensely interested in," he said.

"So after 21 years in politics, I think the offer of the job highlighted it was time for change so I talked to my wife Robyn and then decided I'd do it."

Mr Smyth said the $300,000 salary has been a sore point for many, including former political adversary, retired Labor MLA John Hargreaves.

"Those issues will always be of interest to people. But the overwhelming comment I've had is this is a great thing for the city," he said.

"People are very kind and say they're very happy I'm doing the job because I've always stood up for the city and my family was in small business for decades. I grew up with a cash register. I know how to sell things."

Mr Smyth said he was finalising a strategic outlook for the role which would include benchmarks for his office to achieve.

"At the end of the day, there's got to be a dividend out of this for the ordinary taxpayer," he said.

"If you live in Amaroo or you live in Banks, you know it's, 'who's this guy that's got this well-paid job and gets to travel, what's in it for me?' Well, what's in it for the taxpayer is that Canberra-based firms that are growing employ people; Canberra-based firms that are investing build infrastructure that creates more jobs. They pay various forms of taxation which goes into the revenue which helps pay for the teachers and the nurses and the police officers on the ground."

Mr Smyth sees his role as the ultimate salesman for the ACT, a city and territory he knows and loves. He said whether the job will continue should there be a change of government is up to the next government.

"But this job needs to be done," he said.

He said the ACT is an island city-state economy that – like past powerhouses such as Venice and Florence and modern equivalents such as Singapore and Hong Kong – needs to trade its way to prosperity. It has limited manufacturing, almost zero agriculture and finite potential for land sales. The future, he said, is overseas.

The ACT's future in trade includes tourism, bolstered by Singapore Airline's direct flights to Singapore and Wellington and even more recent announcements such as Tiger Airlines' resumption of daily flights to Melbourne.

Education, government services, high-tech industries specialising in areas such as cyber security, food and wine will be other areas to mine for trade revenue.

"The way I see the job is not only getting the ACT overseas, it's about learning from overseas and bringing those new ideas and innovations back to the ACT so that we can benefit. The job is a genuine two-way street," he said.

He started work officially on August 1, housed initially in the Visit Canberra offices. He has two staff but said the workforce will likely grow.

The office will be a conduit between those who want to do business in or connect with Canberra and those who want to do business or connect with the world.

In the past four weeks he's met or set up meetings with university bosses, heads of international missions and business leaders in the city. Promoting Canberra in Wellington and Singapore as a holiday and investment destination will be an early focus.

Smyth said he has no intention of "letting anyone down".

"I want to bring everything I've learnt, certainly in the last 21 years in politics, but also the last 47 years having lived in Canberra. I think I'm kind of in a unique position to tell the Canberra story," he said.