NT govt wins hijacked by 'smut-monger'

The Northern Territory's treasurer calling a Darwin journalist a "smut-monger" and "peddler of smear" hasn't helped the government's public relations campaign, the chief minister says.

Parliament resumed in the NT on Tuesday with leader Adam Giles again saying his government has not been good enough at consulting with the public and highlighting its wins.

But as he announced a shortlist to build a $100 million shiplift facility in Darwin, the news was overshadowed by Treasurer Dave Tollner railroading debate to create an independent commission against corruption by lashing out at a reporter from the NT News.

He accused journalist Chris Walsh of conspiring with the Labor Opposition to bring down the Country Liberals government and of creating the perception public institutions are mired in corruption.

"This government has nothing to hide and never has, we've actually been the ones to ferret out these problems," Mr Tollner said.

He called Mr Walsh a "smut-monger, a peddler of smear".

"He says, `you can't trust this government, they're all crooked, there's no accountability, they're not transparent'. That is just absolute and complete nonsense," Mr Tollner said.

When asked if name-calling in parliament was helping the government keep focus on its wins, Mr Giles said, "I wouldn't say so".

"Media is one of the essential elements of democracy in our society and we all should be providing respect to one another," he said.

When asked about a poll published by News Corp Australia on Tuesday showing Labor in the lead ahead of the upcoming election, Mr Giles said he didn't take the figures to heart and that August 27 would be the real poll.

"The most concerning thing is we haven't been able to connect with many of those undecided voters and that's a real challenge for us ... there's been a lot of achievements, (the CLP government) hasn't always been the most consultative and it hasn't always been the prettiest," he said.

"We've done a lot of things without letting people know some of those successes and when we try to, we then get criticised for letting people know and spending (taxpayers' money on advertising campaigns), so it's a challenge."