The former Deputy Premier said he wanted to thank the whole of the Upper Hastings and Comboyne community who have supported him so strongly during his time in parliament and he believed he had "achieved a few good things for the local area" along the way.

The Pacific Highway would have to be "on the top of the list", he said. "There is a good chance the state and federal governments would have forgotten about the Pacific Highway if not for the strong and continuous representations" he had made about it.

To achieve Pacific Highway improvements on the North Coast, the obstacles to be overcome included "the enormous cost, and the immediate demands of the city, with its millions of people".

But "since day one, 16 years ago, he had been like a broken record over it", he said, and a lot of progress has been made as a result.

To the south "it's now a good drive" all the way to Sydney, while there is now also "a lot happening to the north" including the completed Kempsey bypass and other upgrades taking place "all the way to Coffs Harbour".

Over $600 million has been committed to capital works in the Oxley electorate, mainly on the Pacific Highway, he said.

And most significantly there is now a completion date of 2018 for the total highway upgrade, with funds committed, which is "just amazing".

"This is an amazing achievement", he said, involving "multiple billions of dollars".

He is also proud of improvements to the Oxley Highway, including the upgraded section "east of the Donut" to Port Macquarie, an area which was originally part of the Oxley electorate, and the more recent works being carried out on the western side, including the new overtaking lane, resurfacing works and other upgrades taking place west of Wauchope.

"The quality of the Oxley Highway, from Yarrowitch through to Port Macquarie, is improving," he said.

And along the Oxley Highway, flashing lights at the Huntingdon and Long Flat public schools were achievements he was proud of, he said.

In addition, due to his efforts, "a lot of money has been spent on Wauchope High School and Wauchope Public School, particularly in terms of the millions spent on Wauchope High School, where the facilities are now state of the art, as they should be, because it's a great school."

Mr Stoner also listed upgrades to the Wauchope TAFE campus and the urgent care centre and palliative care unit at the Wauchope District Memorial Hospital, whose future had been in doubt under the previous government but was "now not only still going strong, but better than ever".

Long overdue upgrades to the Port Macquarie Base Hospital, record numbers of nurses at both hospitals, a boost to teacher numbers in regions such as the Hastings, and record police numbers, including a recent additional officer based at Wauchope, also featured on Mr Stoner's list, along with funding secured for many community and sporting groups, including the Wauchope Showground, and the Hastings Woodworkers, "which are only little things but which help the volunteer groups that keep our community together", and which "have been very satisfying".

And he wanted finally to mention "the opportunity to help people at an individual level" in areas such as housing, health treatments and waiting lists - "I have been really happy to have helped a lot of people over that time".

These are the sorts of rewards that matter to MPs, he said.

Mr Stoner said he was going to miss representing an electorate that he often described as "the best part of the best country in the world".

He said he would "miss the people that make up the communities across the Oxley electorate - it has been a privilege to represent them and I will miss meeting them and taking up the cudgels for them".

But he said that after 16 years the needs of his family had to be put first.

He also said he was hoping to "catch up with some of those waves and holes of golf" he had missed out on over the last 16 years.