I've been wondering if I was the grinch who stole Christmas, or the only person who thought the idea of a public holiday if our women's soccer team won the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was over the top.
I knew I wasn't completely alone - Nationals leader David Littleproud came out and said "someone's got to ultimately pay for this".
He reckoned that when Queen Elizabeth II died, analysis from Shane Oliver of AMP showed it cost around $9 billion for the national day of mourning afterwards.
Prime Minister Albanese on the other hand said what it did was lead to increased economic activity in a whole lot of businesses, particularly small businesses.
Don't ask me how - the SBS media report the PM is quoted in doesn't say anything about that.
I also see Mr Littleproud asking what immediately ran through my head - why wasn't a public holiday proposed when the Australian national netball team, the Diamonds won that sport's World Cup a couple of weeks ago in South Africa?
Apparently it was their 12th World Cup win - isn't that cause for a crazy celebration?
(Or is it that netball is only played by women and therefore there's no comparison with men to be made?)
Let's not forget just a few weeks ago that the Dolphins, Australia's swimming team smashed it out of the water at the world aquatic championships in Japan, becoming the number one swimming nation in the world.
They won 13 gold, seven silver and five bronze medals, 25 medals in total, breaking world records left, right and centre and finishing above the US and China in the medals tally.
The last time they topped the world championship was 2001 when Thorpie was leading the team.
Leading the charge this time around was 19-year-old Mollie O'Callaghan, claiming five gold medals, four of them world records.
Is the mania for the Matildas because we've never advanced this far in soccer circles before? Is it because it's happening before our eyes in Australia?
I'm as excited as anyone to see all eyes on women's sport.
According to interviews, our female footballers used to turn up to stadiums with about 300 people watching.
Compare that to Stadium Australia last week when 75,000 people screamed the house down in excitement at what by all accounts was the most amazing penalty shootout in the history of the game.
I'm not actually a soccer fan - I find watching something for 90 minutes to end up with no score excruciating, plus when I was trying to learn it at school, the PE teacher kept on singling me out for being offside, without explaining what I had to do to get onside, very bruising for a 14yo girl's ego.
I don't begrudge the Matildas a second of the coverage that's descending on them however - now the people with the money purses can see how well they play the game, and how attractive it is to other spectators.
They've worked hard for many years, just like the women playing in the women's NRL, which is finally getting the media coverage it deserves.
By the way, Australia's rugby league team, the Jillaroos, are three-time World Cup champions - no public holiday for them!
I hope the money flows to support young women in the sporting world, instead of putting it into another public holiday.
- Sally Gall, North Queensland Register senior journalist
Talk of the Town is a weekly opinion piece written by ACM journalists. The thoughts expressed are their own.
Sally Gall
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
Based at Blackall, CW Qld, where I've raised a family, run Merino sheep and beef cattle, and helped develop a region - its history, tourism, education and communications. Get in touch at 0427 575 955 if you've got a story idea for me.
