In the six weeks leading up to an election, politics can be about as appealing to rational, sane, human beings as gay bars are to Israel Folau.
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Assorted announcements, pledges, claims, counter-claims and the inevitable ensuing mud-slinging is all about as entertaining as Married At First Sight.
But occasionally, when your defence is down from the strain of attempting to maintain 24-7 election avoidance, an announcement slips through that sparks a sudden, albeit short-lived, interest in politics.
One such moment happened last week when the Liberals announced they would not be matching Labor's $25 million pledge to help establish a Tasmanian AFL team.
The Liberals may oversee a Tasmanian health system which has ambulances ramped halfway up Jacobs Ladder, a parks and wildlife department with insufficient funding to cater for the toiletry requirements of its visitors, an education set-up which requires parents to drive through a supermarket car park to reach the state's largest primary school and were caught trying to soften gun laws in the state which witnessed Australia's worst shooting massacre, but they have got this one right.
That's as close as a political party can expect to come to a compliment in this column.
I'm all for a Tasmanian AFL team, but no way should Tasmanian taxpayers have to pay for it.
We already pay nearly $7 million a year for the privilege of not having our own team, having also paid the lion's share of the cost to hand deliver two top-quality venues to the AFL at virtually no cost to them.
Do Gold Coast or Western Sydney taxpayers pay for their teams? Of course not.
Do Melbourne taxpayers pay nine times over for their teams? Do they heck.
The same source that pays for all of that should pay for any Tasmanian team, and it's one of the wealthiest sporting bodies on the continent.
Labor's original announcement was made last July. The statement is a thing of beauty.
If ever seven words rendered another 500 redundant, this is it.
It rambles on about Tasmania's historic contribution to our national sport, attempting to stir up support with bland, emotional rhetoric amid bleating about the state being "short-changed".
But it says the contribution is "conditional on the AFL granting a licence".
There's the seven words.
So it's not going to happen then.
The AFL has made it so abundantly clear that it has no intention of granting the island state a team that the "too-hard basket" at AFL House has been renamed the "Tasmania basket".
Over the years, the likes of Andrew Demetriou, Mike Fitzpatrick and Gillon McLachlan have delivered similarly dismissive messages with ever-more-vague timescales while conveniently blaming a north-south divide despite the lack of a national footy team becoming the most uniting force in Tasmanian sport.
The Labor statement, which can be found among "Bill's media releases" on his website if you don't get out much, talks up the advantage of a Tassie team for the state's young players, facilities and economy - presumably the same economy that will be providing the $25 million.
And statements like: "Tasmania has a strong football tradition and has produced some of the game's biggest stars," are accurate and good emotive, vote-winning propaganda.
But they fail to confront the brick wall awaiting the notion at 140 Harbour Esplanade, Docklands VIC 3008.
Last week came the Liberal response saying it would not match the commitment.
Senator Richard Colbeck chose to make the announcement at Launceston General Hospital, perhaps so he could say he would rather see that money invested in health or perhaps so he could view for himself the ambulance ramping scenario created by the Liberals' health system under-funding.
"Do you want a government that's going to prioritise the things that you want - health - or do you want a government led by Bill Shorten who talks about fairness who then wants to give your money to the AFL, one of the richest sporting organisations in Australia?" he asked, rhetorically.
"It is our view that precious taxpayer funds should instead be spent on essential services such as health, not an AFL team in Hobart."
Fair point. Especially if it's going to be in Hobart.
Colbeck suggested the AFL should fund the team itself like it has done on the Gold Coast and in Western Sydney.
Politician in talking sense shocker.
In 2016, the Australian Financial Review estimated that the AFL has paid more than $80 million to both the GWS Giants and Gold Coast Suns since late 2011.
That was three years ago, since when the Suns have got worse and therefore even less appealing to the most fickle sport-supporting market in Australia.
But still the AFL mint continues to print money for its two problem children while telling their older sibling to keep toiling away at the Labor house.
A Tasmanian AFL team has become the most reliable political football in Australian sport, booted around between rival teams at arenas in both the state and national capitals.
Rovers in a variety of colours like to take possession, put the boot in and attempt to advance the cause towards goal.
They talk a good game, dissect their opposition's weaknesses and get their supporters cheering.
But it isn't worth the price of a Sherrin unless it were pumped up by the AFL itself.