The ACT Government's bold attempt to introduce civil unions was met with stiff opposition from the more conservative Rudd Government, which in December 2007 had vowed not to interfere.

By May, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd had changed his tune, and like his predecessor, John Howard, threatened to overturn any legislation that ''mimicked'' the sacrosanct act of marriage (Howard actually overturned the ACT's previous attempt in 2006).

So the ACT's homosexual community was told in May, when the Assembly finally passed the legislation, that if they wanted to legally form a union it would have to be cloaked in secrecy, without a ceremony, watering down the process to no more than a document signing. To date, only 39 civil unions have been formed in Canberra.

It may have won the Stanhope Government the gay vote, but it was not enough to protect his majority government, which was taken from him at the October 18 election.

Not only that, he was left at the mercy of the four elected Greens MLAs, who toyed with Stanhope and Opposition leader Zed Seselja for almost a week before revealing who they would support as chief minister. And they extracted their pound of flesh, too, signing an agreement with the Government that included promises ranging from a levy on plastic bags to increasing the ACT public housing stock to 10 per cent of all dwellings.

Like any election year, we farewelled many familiar faces, some more reluctant to go than others.

Liberals stalwart and former leader Bill Stefaniak was so eager to exit politics he even forgot to tell his own party he was leaving, just one month before the election. Embarrassingly, Seselja only found out of Stefaniak's retirement when the Government called a media conference to announce Stefaniak's appointment to the new ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

Other retirements leading up to the election were Labor MLAs Wayne Berry and Karin Macdonald, and Greens MLA Deb Foskey.

Others were not so eager to leave. Liberal-turned-Independent-turned -Richard Mulcahy Canberra Party leader Richard Mulcahy, who was unceremoniously dumped by the electorate, and has not been sighted since. Also voted out were Labor's Mick Gentleman, and Liberals Jacqui Burke and Steve Pratt, whose promise to chain himself to bulldozers at the site of the proposed Tuggeranong data centre, sadly, will not be tested.

Their departures paved the way for a new-look Assembly, with the addition of Labor's Joy Burch and Liberals Steve Doszpot, Jeremy Hanson and Alistair Coe. The Greens became a third force in ACT politics, and an Opposition of sorts, with newly elected leader Meredith Hunter, newly elected Speaker Shane Rattenbury, Amanda Bresnan and dark horse Caroline Le Couteur.

It wasn't just civil unions that drew the nation's eyes to Canberra. For a fleeting moment we were also part of the Beijing Olympics, as the Olympic flame was relayed through our streets. What should have been a peaceful torch relay around the world turned ugly with protesters using it to draw attention to China's human rights abuses in Tibet and Taiwan. Even Canberra had its share of protests along the route, and the additional security presence, which the ACT Government footed the $1million bill for.

Then there was the kangaroo culling saga. Never mind that 4000 roos are killed on private ACT land every year, and that your local supermarket sells Skippy steaks at great prices. The 600-odd roos that were fenced in at the Belconnen Naval Transmission site with limited food supply should have been relocated, not euthanased, animal activists argued. Some called for roo contraception, which was deemed insensitive towards Catholic roos. The protests were to no avail. With the support of the ACT Government and the RSPCA, Defence killed 514 roos. None were for human consumption.

It was also the year of ''official openings''. Of course, the Government has since clarified that just because a place is officially opened does not mean it is actually finished.

Such was the case with the Alexander Maconochie Centre, Canberra's first jail, and the most human rights-compliant jail in the country. Or at least it will be, when it finally starts receiving prisoners, and those unfortunate enough to find themselves in the centre better find another pastime other than pumping weights, because it has no gym. It does, however, have a $100,000 glass sculpture in the visitors' area.

There was also the ''super school'' in Holt, the Kingsford Smith School that was to offer preschool to Year 10 from next year, Education Minister Andrew Barr told us at the official opening in October (three days before the election). That has since been downgraded to preschool to Year 7 due to a lack of enrolments, but not before parents of would-be Year 8-10 students had ordered uniforms. Oops.

One thing that did open and operate immediately was stage three of the much-hyped Gungahlin Drive Extension, which had its first cars drive on it in April. The project had been 11 years and $120million in the making. The only problem is peak-hour on the single-lane roads is gridlocked. But there is nothing like an election to get things changed. In July the Government announced it would widen the GDE if re-elected, despite saying in March it was ''five or 10 years away''.

Not wanting to feel left out, the ACT Government proclaimed earlier this month that Canberra is another casualty of the global financial crisis. We too will have a budget deficit, to the tune of $98.9million in 2009-10, and a further $200million over the following two years, Treasurer Katy Gallagher announced proudly this week. And, just as Rudd did earlier this month, we will have a ''stimulus package'' in the New Year.

Oh, and we should brace ourselves for a tough 2009-10 budget in May. With schools already cut to the bone in the 2006-07 budget, perhaps hospital or public library closures are in store...

Victor Violante is Chief Assembly Reporter.