Well, this is all a bit depressing.
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Hunter voters underwhelmed by the state election campaign can be forgiven if they reach for the remote as the federal ballot limps into view.
Four locked-in Labor electorates were never likely to deliver much in the way of fireworks, and now, almost two weeks into the campaign, there's no danger of voters feeling overstimulated.
Local Labor MPs have coaxed two shadow ministers, Anthony Albanese (infrastructure) and Tony Burke (environment), to Newcastle, but their "announcements" have been anything but inspiring.
Mr Burke set the tone on April 11, the first day of the campaign, when he stood on the banks of Throsby Creek and promised the waterway could get a share of a $200 million national Labor program if enough voters visited his website and registered their support.
Mr Albanese drove up the M1 on Tuesday to promise something about the motorway's extension to Raymond Terrace. Exactly what remains unclear.
This month's federal budget had already allocated $1.6 billion to the project, though almost all of that won't be spent until well after the next election in 2022.
"Albo" said a Labor government would "sit down" with the NSW Coalition government to try to speed things up a bit, but he stopped short of promising to actually start building the road any sooner.
Then it was on to Glendale on Wednesday to confirm that a federal Labor government would spend $13 million on a bridge over the rail line at Pennant Street, a crucial part of the proposed Lake Macquarie transport interchange, but only if the state government did, too.
Labor made a similar commitment on March 5, 18 days before it lost the NSW election.
Given Gladys Berejiklian's government announced in June that it would not fund the bridge, it is unclear what Wednesday's announcement was meant to achieve, other than rubbing the Libs' noses in it again.
It is anyone's guess what the Liberal campaign in the Hunter will look like, given their shambolic effort before the state vote, when party HQ gagged most of their candidates from talking to the media and the only nominee given free rein became embroiled in a Facebook trolling scandal.
So far, it has been left up to the minor parties to keep us awake.
One Nation Hunter candidate Stuart Bonds' muscles, anarchy tattoo and glamorous Finnish wife have been a respite from the boredom, and the Greens have been promising money they will never have to spend in the hope of shaming the major parties into addressing the region's needs.
With 23 days to go until the people shuffle into polling booths and exercise their democratic right, it is worth asking whether they deserve better.
How about some strong and apolitical leadership on issues like PFAS at Williamtown, expanding Newcastle Airport, addressing homelessness or bringing new jobs to Newcastle's inner-city?
It's a good thing Game of Thrones has started. Now, there's a community who knew how to run an entertaining leadership contest.