The lowlight was a ham-fisted attempt by Kevin Rudd to splash $100 million around the state as pre-election sweeteners which was actually previously budgeted forestry compensation funding.

Glaringly, this "jobs and growth package" was so quickly cobbled together that nobody at the launch knew how many jobs it was likely to create.

Applications were extended to July 17 and attracted 150 new applications and somehow, five working days later, they had all be assessed in what Mr Rudd called a "very careful, very cautious" and "exhaustive process".

Surely the bottom line from every application should have been the number of jobs they would create, especially in the hardest hit region of Northern Tasmania which mysteriously received just 10 per cent of this funding.

The performance of our elected leaders is always interesting.

Politicians are, in the end, just people - they are not demi-gods or rock stars.

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings and Opposition Leader Will Hodgman are both affable and engaging in public life and largely the same when the cameras and the notebooks are racked.

Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard was a surprise packet.

Her steely parliamentary performances and deadly serious press conferences didn't endear her to many voters.

Having twice shared a coffee in private with Ms Gillard it is easy to see why she had such a dedicated and loyal staff.

She knew about Northern Tasmania's issues and appeared genuinely engaged and interested.

Tony Abbott has been in Launceston twice in two weeks.

He doesn't appear to change from public to private. He is happy to speak off the record and discuss any issue but he always seems to be holding something back - like the election is his to lose if he says something clumsy. Maybe that reserved exterior doesn't gel with some voters.

Thursday morning was my first private encounter with Kevin Rudd at the Seaport.

Prime ministers always come with an intriguing array of media minders, black Ford Territories and security personnel in black suits and ear-pieces.

Our discussion was based around his five-page prespun list of what Labor had spent in Bass during the past six years.

It was a bit confusing who Mr Rudd was trying to convince.

He conveniently skipped over the briefing note on page 3 which read - "JOBS: N/A Jobs have been lost."

In an electorate like Bass where unemployment is the highest in Tasmania it was a poignant oversight.

It was also bewildering that he was unaware and unbriefed that Northern Tasmania had a freight problem. Geoff Lyons gave him that briefing there and then.

Much has been written and said about Kevin Rudd when the camera is rolling and Kevin Rudd in private.

Based on my experience on Thursday morning when the doors closed, he was about as engaged and charismatic as a silt rake.