Even by Parliament House's standards it seemed a particularly petty squabble: a dispute between Coalition and Labor politicians over which television channel to watch in the parliamentary gym.

The brouhaha erupted earlier this month when Tasmanian Liberal MP Andrew Nikolic and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison were watching Sky News while exercising. This sparked an intervention from Queensland Labor Senator Claire Moore who asked for the channel to be changed to the ABC.

A compromise has been reached over which television station is on in the Parliament House gym. Credit:Adam Hollingworth

If ever there was a potent symbol of the hyper-polarisation of Australia's political-media bubble, this was it.

To resolve the dispute, Senator Moore asked for the Department of Parliamentary Services, which runs the gym, to poll politicians on whether the TV should be tuned to Sky or the ABC during sitting weeks.