Stunts, pies and awkward pictures with the Prime Minister.
An otherwise ho-hum ACT election campaign burst to life this week.
Here's what you might have missed.
Hey big spenders!
Noticed more than a few Canberra Liberals ads on your Facebook feed in the past week?
This might explain it.
According to Facebook data, the Canberra Liberals spent more than $28,200 in the week to October 6 promoting their mix of attack ads and simple campaign slogans to users of the social media platform.
Remarkably, that's more than double the outlay of the second-biggest-spending political organisation in that period, Queensland Labor, which is also in the midst of an election campaign.
On top of the amount spent on the party's account, Alistair Coe's personal campaign has handed Facebook more than $7310 to boost the reach of his messages.
That ranked him fifth among all Australian individuals and organisations advertising about social issues, elections or politics.
ACT Labor is languishing well down the list, having spent just $2270 over the seven-day period. Chief Minister Andrew Barr spent less than $100 in that time, the data showed.
The $1 million election-year spending limit means the major parties have to carefully choose where to channel their scarce financial resources. Labor and the Liberals have clearly picked different routes on this front.
It's worth noting that the ALP's review of its shock 2019 federal election result found it was "clearly outperformed" by the Coalition in the social media game.
Stunt man
Unlike on the Hill, where senators have been seen dressed as submarines (Rex Patrick) and the Grim Reaper (Bob Katter), the very sensible folk in the ACT Legislative Assembly rarely, if ever, subject themselves to the silliness of the political stunt.
That has changed this week, at least for Alistair Coe.
The Liberal leader and his deputy Nicole Lawder donned aprons at a Wanniassa bakery on Wednesday to bake apple pies, while talking up their plan to grow the ACT's revenue "pie".
A day later, the pair stood inside in the freezer of a Hume fresh food wholesaler with an enlarged mock rates notice.
Cooped up
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is a busy man, steering the nation through the biggest crisis in modern history and all. He can't be everywhere at once, clearly.
But more than a few eyebrows were raised when the Prime Minister was a no-show (at least in person) at the Canberra Liberals' election campaign launch at the National Arboretum on Sunday night, despite being in Canberra at the time.
Google Maps tells us it would have taken "C1" about 10 minutes to shuttle Morrison from The Lodge to the Arboretum. Alas, it wasn't to be, with the Prime Minister's involvement in the launch limited to a video message endorsing Alistair Coe's campaign.
A peek at Morrison's Instagram account suggests he spent Sunday piecing together a chicken coop, which arrived unbuilt a day earlier.
The Canberra Liberals leader did get some face time with the Prime Minister on Saturday night, with the pair posing for a photo together (awkwardly, it must be said) at half time in the NRL elimination final between Coe's Raiders and Morrison's Sharks.
Maybe it was the Green Machine's sterling victory which prompted Morrison's campaign launch snub?
We think that's unlikely, but stranger things have happened in 2020.
