Bryan Green promises focus on renewable energy

After record losses in the 2014 state election, Mr Green says the transition to opposition has been tough.

But in his first full year as Opposition Leader, the Braddon MP says the party has made ground.

"People talk about opposition being tough, and there's no doubt it is tough," Mr Green said.

"It's hard to be heard," he said.

Mr Green said to win government, the party must prove it had earned it.

"If it was easy then you wouldn't be prepared well enough for government," he said.

"Getting people to that point is difficult though, and it should be."

He said the party had successfully held the government to account in 2015. "We've certainly stopped them going to the extreme right," he said.

"Are we ready for government? I'd say probably not right at this very moment because we haven't developed our suite of policies.

"As we go through 2016 we'll be in much better shape."

Mr Green said the party had put "enormous amounts of effort" into developing its policies.

He said the federal and state Liberals were elected to government based on "one-line statements" with no substance or proper debate.

"It all sounded fine and dandy from the point of view of a one-line statement, but actually transposing that to a piece of legislation and getting it through has been far more difficult for them," he said.

"In the Labor Party there's always a bit of blood and saliva."

Mr Green said the state needed a vision for using renewable energy in transport.

"We know the technology is going to change to the point that people will be storing a lot of their own energy at home," he said.

"We need to think of ways to utilise that energy that we produce here.

"We'll be looking to put forward a vision for Tasmania in that regard."

The former deputy premier and minister agreed that forestry and energy were the two areas that got him most fired-up in opposition.

"It's probably been a slight weakness because I put so much into that whole forestry agreement," Mr Green said. "It consumed so much of my life.

"To see the industry being left in a state of flux ... is very frustrating."

He labelled the government's plans to sell Forestry Tasmania's plantation assets as "hypocritical and dishonest".

"I get upset about it, in fact I'm getting upset about it now as I talk about it, because I'm really annoyed that the state can be misled to that degree," he said.

"I did not make one decision without consulting the industry, not the Greens, the industry."

Mr Green said Labor would put the pressure on the government next year to reshuffle its cabinet.

"It absolutely needs one," he said.

The leader said he understood all too well the challenge ahead for federal leader Bill Shorten, who has been polling as low as 15 per cent.

"Bill Shorten is an extremely capable person," he said.

"Right at the moment he isn't connecting with the Australian people, but I think that will change."

When it comes to the future of his own leadership, Mr Green says he is certain he's the one to lead the party to the 2018 election.

"At the end of the day I've been around for a while, 18 years, and in that time I've had my ups and downs but at the same time I'm tough," he said.

"I have got a good united team around me and we're starting to build.

"We'll build with candidates next year and we'll be looking fresh."

Tomorrow: Greens leader Cassy O'Connor