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David Pocock is very annoyed. He is, he tells us, the victim of lies. He complains that he is the butt of smears and slurs.

Exhibit One on the evidence sheet against the liars and smearers is a corflute presenting him as a green.

There he is in the picture on the placard like Superman, ripping his smart shirt open to reveal a green T-shirt, emblazoned with the devastating words "The Greens". The message, you might think, is: "Vote Pocock, Get Green".

It's true that the font on the corflute is the same as the font on his own posters. That does seem clearly intended to deceive.

But surely Canberrans are intelligent enough not to be tricked into thinking Mr Pocock is suddenly himself revealing he's a member of the Greens party. Green he undoubtedly is but not a member of the party.

There's no doubt of his green credentials (lower case g, you note). You may have noticed him at the demonstrations against the Adani coalmine.

Or remember reports of him locking himself to a machine in protest in 2014, protests dyed a deep, deep green.

As the press reported at the time: "Injured Wallaby flanker David Pocock has been arrested after chaining himself to a digger to protest against a controversial coalmine in north-west NSW, according to activists.

"The former captain was chained to the digger with seven others, part of a group of 30 protesters who have converged on the Maules Creek coalmine in the Leard Forest, joining a long-running blockade at the site."

Or you may have heard him at the "Peoples Climate Assembly" at Parliament House. As he quoted himself in his blog): "We need bold climate action now 'to save lives, and livelihoods as well'. We all stand to benefit in the long term from bold action on climate change."

On top of all that, Mr Pocock accused Advance Australia, which came up with the offending placards, of "lying". There's no doubt Advance Australia is right-wing (or populist, depending on your point of view). It's pro-nuclear and "anti-woke". As it puts it: "Mainstream Australia is under siege by stupid laws and woke ideologies like 'net zero'."

The conduct of this group - and where they draw their political and financial support - deserves significant scrutiny.

But that isn't the argument. You can agree or disagree. The issue is whether it has a right to use robust, punchy adverts in its cause. You might even find them witty.

Mr Pocock clearly doesn't. He is not amused. "These posters from Advance Australia are a lie designed to deliberately mislead voters and they are undermining our democracy," he said on his blog.

"Advance Australia's actions that spread false and misleading information to voters underscores why it is so critical that we introduce federal truth in political advertising laws."

But how false is it? Is a man who locks himself to a (mechanical) digger in an anti-coal protest not a green?

Politics is a rough old trade, but a vibrant democracy assumes voters can see through the bogus claims.

These voters (gloriously) are not as daft as the paternalists assume.

Politicians - particularly Mr Pocock - should get a thicker skin. He was tough on the rugby field and he's going to need to toughen up if he wants to make it the rough world of politics.

Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."

Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."

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