As a result, the Stanhope Government removed provisions for ceremonies in its proposal, and ultimately allowed for civil partnerships that did not include legislated ceremonies. The Stanhope Government reported that the number of new civil partnerships entered into "exceeded expectations". In 2006 Stanhope became the ACT's longest serving Chief Minister, exceeding the record previously held by Kate Carnell. On 26 November 2007, following the resignation of the Northern Territory's Clare Martin, Stanhope became Australia's longest-serving incumbent state or territory leader. When Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia on 3 December 2007, replacing John Howard, Stanhope became the country's longest-serving incumbent head of government. At the 2008 ACT general election, Stanhope led the Labor Party to win sufficient seats to form a minority government, again with a hung parliament. After almost two weeks of deliberations, the Greens chose to support a minority Labor government. During his time in office, Stanhope also held the office of Attorney-General from 14 November 2001 to 18 April 2006. During this period, he sponsored a significant rewrite of the civil law of the ACT - including the passage of the Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002, the Civil Law (Sale of Residential Property) Act 2003 and the Civil Law Property Act 2006. On 9 May 2011, Stanhope announced his intention to resign as Chief Minister and as a member for Ginninderra. He formally resigned as Chief Minister on 12 May, and as a Member of the Legislative Assembly on 16 May 2011. The casual vacancy in the Assembly, caused by Stanhope's resignation, was filled by Chris Bourke. Stanhope accepted a professorial fellowship in the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, based at the University of Canberra, commencing in August 2011. On 17 August 2012, Stanhope was appointed Administrator of the Indian Ocean Territories (Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island) by Governor-General Quentin Bryce. His two-year term ended in October 2014, and he was replaced by Barry Haase.