Michael Ferguson has paid a price for the debacle over the roll-out of new Spirit of Tasmania vessels.

He relinquished the infrastructure portfolio to Premier Jeremy Rockliff, while retaining his role as Tasmania's Deputy Premier and Treasurer, and while continuing to blame Spirit operator TT-Line for the problem.

Well short of accepting any kind of blame, he instead wanted to remove the "unnecessary distraction" from the project which still has major obstacles to overcome.

At the time of cost blowouts and delays to both the Spirit vessels and Devonport port infrastructure, he was the shareholder minister for TT-Line and TasPorts.

But it's far from the end for Mr Ferguson.

He remains Treasurer and will deliver the budget in a few weeks, at a time when the Tasmanian economy is facing pressure from all sides, highlighted by Saul Eslake's review which warned of a dire economic outlook for Tasmania in the coming years.

Mr Ferguson is still the second-most senior member of cabinet, remaining central to the machinations of government.

The loss of infrastructure would be a blow — given his pride at the ongoing Bridgewater Bridge works.

But it could also give the government clear air, because there are still a  lot of infrastructure works that are either ongoing, or sorely needed.

These range from the Southern Outlet upgrades and highway improvements, to works on Macquarie Wharf in Hobart for the icebreaker Nuyina.

Mr Ferguson's cabinet colleagues have said he did a "fantastic" job in the role.

But his time in the infrastructure and transport portfolios has been far from smooth sailing.

Bus services cut 

It became a common sight in the suburbs across Launceston and Hobart last year — crowds of people gathered at bus stops, waiting.

Metro Tasmania then introduced a "temporary service adjustment", cutting its losses and simply removing about 170 daily services from the schedule altogether with minimal consultation.

Services can't be late or cancelled if they don't exist.

It left school students, people with disabilities, the elderly and workers often stranded in suburbs.

That was in August last year, and the "temporary" has, of course, become "ongoing", with the blame put at a severe driver shortage.

Metro's shareholder minister at the time was Mr Ferguson.

Track record

Politics is a tough business, and it's not unusual for the public to forget the minor wins, and only remember the public service shortcomings.

Mr Ferguson has increasingly become one of those ministers in Tasmania, facing intense public scrutiny in his portfolio areas over a number of years.

And it's not just a failure to make the buses run on time, or at all.

Getting things up and running in a small island state is never going to be straightforward, but promises have come and gone at regular intervals in Tasmania.

Some were made under former ministers, only to be delayed or cancelled.

A common public transport ticketing system was promised, but hasn't eventuated, experiencing cost blowouts. Hobart was promised a bus transit centre, which never happened.

The government funded an extra lane on the Southern Outlet for buses, but that has also been subject to cost blowouts and delays.

Hobart's disused northern suburbs transit corridor is still very much disused, with ideas of light rail scaled back to "rapid bus", but then rail light put back on the table. It's still at the planning stage, with no sign of work in the short or medium term.

The government points to the Bridgewater Bridge reconstruction works as a major win after years of promises, with it appearing to be on the current schedule.

But a feasibility study into another bridge for the Tamar River in Launceston — seen as a key solution to growing traffic problems in the city's northern suburbs — is years behind schedule.

When it comes to ports, the federal government also appears to be growing frustrated with the slow progress of wharf improvements in Hobart for the icebreaker Nuyina and the ports suffering "concrete cancer".

Mr Ferguson has been either infrastructure minister, transport minister, the shareholder minister for the responsible GBE, or treasurer, for years during these rollouts and promises.

Health comes and goes

Infrastructure and transport haven't been the only challenging areas for Mr Ferguson.

As health minister, he oversaw challenging reforms to the state's public hospital system.

But as time wore on, public health doctors and nurses grew increasingly frustrated with Mr Ferguson, arguing that he was blaming them for problems rather than taking responsibility.

A senior clinician gatecrashed one of his press conferences at the Royal Hobart Hospital in 2018, telling him that "our numbers at the [hospital] are exceptionally low for major surgeries".

An attempt to ease pressure with staff via a health summit was not enough to save his job. The Australian Medical Association described it as a missed opportunity, and said a "fresh approach was needed".

In 2019, then-premier Will Hodgman moved Mr Ferguson on from the health portfolio.

The decision was broadly welcomed by medical practitioners, but Mr Hodgman said Mr Ferguson had done "an outstanding job".

Few politicians in senior cabinet positions get through the experience unscathed, and Mr Hodgman is not alone in praising Mr Ferguson.

On Monday, in announcing that he had accepted Mr Ferguson's relinquishment of the infrastructure portfolio, Premier Jeremy Rockliff thanked him for his "tireless work and dedication".

And cabinet colleague Eric Abetz said Mr Ferguson had done a "fantastic" job as infrastructure minister.

The Civil Contractors Federation was also appreciative, praising him for the Bridgewater Bridge, the new wing at the Royal Hobart Hospital and the upgrades to the Midland and Bass highways.

Strong performer at polls

Throughout his time in politics, Mr Ferguson has maintained strong electoral appeal in Bass.

In the March state election, he comfortably achieved the most primary votes, helping the Liberals win three of the seven seats in the electorate despite the earlier resignation of popular former premier Peter Gutwein.

He has also embarked on nation-leading reform for poker machines, which would make Tasmania the first state with mandatory pre-commitment cards.

Mr Ferguson has remained steadfast in the face of industry opposition, and although delayed until the end of next year, there is no sign of backing down on the promise.

That could be a legacy a minister could hang their hat on.