Offence is the best form of defence!

Fascinating! Even the ABC can't seem to get it's facts right these days - has anyone else besides me noticed the spelling of the name of the Maningrida elder in the stories below? It seems to change with the times.

In just a few months we have gone from this

"Members of the Commonwealth task force on child abuse arrive in the Northern Territory community of Maningrida today.

Task force chair Sue Gordon and Major General Dave Chalmers will spend two days in the coastal Arnhem Land community.

An Aboriginal traditional owner in the area, Reggie Wadarjil, will meet with the task force.

He says he is looking forward to the meeting."

To this

"An Aboriginal community in Arnhem Land is taking legal action in the High Court to challenge the Federal Government's intervention in the Northern Territory.

Residents in and around Maningrida want to overturn Commonwealth laws that compulsorily acquire the community township for five years and abolish the land permit system.

If successful, the case would set a precedent for other affected communities."

"Mr Frawley, a barrister at Holding Redlich in Melbourne, is acting on behalf of a Maningrida elder Reggie Wurridjal and the local Bawinanga corporation that represents about 800 people, mostly from outstations."

What's the government's response?

"Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough has revealed that one of the Darwin lawyers acting for Maningrida is David Dalrymple, husband of NT Minister Marion Scrymgour, who lashed out at the intervention earlier this week."

So is this a case of "offence is the best form of defence" or what?

Sleight of hand, misdirection, misinformation, smear campaigns, denial of any culpability, denial of any accountability and deliberate lies seem to form a substantial part of the current government's rhetoric.

Government behaviour these days seems to be governed by one rule for "us" and a different rule for "others"

Let's see what voters think about things in less than a month from now!

I know what I thought of this intervention months ago.