We are a public of contradictions. Many voters and news consumers complain that our politicians are plastic, over-rehearsed, and media-managed by a fleet of advisors. We ask for them to be human, to show us they are not robots. Yet, when they do-when they behave in the same crude, snarky, or darkly humorous way that exists in offices and pubs across the country-we are shocked to find that being human isn't always pretty.

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Another recent incident is the latest instance of this contradiction. Federal Assistant Minister Rebecca White and state MPs Ella Haddad and Sarah Lovell were overheard playing a game of "Shoot, Shag, Marry" at Hobart's Taste of Summer festival. They were rating their Liberal rivals. The complainant, a Liberal Party member, labelled the talk "truly disgusting."

Apologies were issued, and state Labor Leader Josh Willie has tried to draw a line under the matter, calling it a "private conversation."

The MPs' crime wasn't necessarily their choice of drinking game; thousands of Australians have likely played it, fuelled by several alcoholic drinks, but their choice of venue. Now more than ever, a private conversation or gesture in a public space is impossible. Politicians should know this. The Labor politicians were........

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