Is the Moon Made of Green Cheese?

"More than 700 political parties, universities, lobbying firms, media companies and politicians have been warned they could fall foul of a foreign agents register aimed at tracking the role of overseas actors in Australian politics. Attorney-General Christian Porter said officials were ready to chase down foreign actors who chose to 'run the gauntlet' rather than disclose allegiances, under the new Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme. With the three-month grace period expiring tomorrow, 10 entities have so far self-reported, a fraction of the hundreds of individuals and groups likely to fall within the register's scope." (A-G's warning to foreign agents, Paul Maley, The Australian, 11/3/19)

Foreign influence?

Merely recall the blunt words of the Australian official quoted in journalist Peter Hartcher's piece in the Sydney Morning Herald:

"It wouldn't matter whether it was John Howard or Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott in the prime minister's chair... they [the Israelis] know they've got us by the balls... partly because of the strength of the Israel lobby." (See my 2/3/10 post The Mind Boggles.)

Last time I looked there was no reference to the FITS on AIJAC's (Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council) website.

Is its executive director, Colin Rubenstein, I wonder, lying awake at night, sweating over Christian Porter's "gauntlet"?

Is the moon made of green cheese?

(For a useful review of the Israel lobby's clout in Australian politics see Ali Kazak's Why should Israel's lobby have different standards?,johnmenadue.com, 7/12/17.)