The following is a statement to the community forum that was held at the Bendigo Library on Sunday the 12th of June from 11am-12:30pm.

Statement from Craig Isherwood
Lead Senate Candidate and National Secretary of the Citizens Electoral Council

Dear forum participants,

Firstly, I wish to apologise for not being able to attend in person, and secondly I would like to thank John Cooper and his organising team for providing this rare opportunity for candidates to present their views to voters. It is often stated that elections are won on local issues. That may or may not be true, but our focus, in the CEC, has always been local, international and strategic.

For the last 28 years the CEC has fought as an independent political party for the principles of the common good and national sovereignty, in economic and foreign policy, principles which are sorely needed today.

These policies and principles are derived from our underlying philosophy that all human beings are endowed with creativity which uniquely sets us apart from all other animal species, but also makes all human beings equal, regardless of race or religion. When we foster our unique human creative ability, through decent education programmes, we can make discoveries of the unseen physical principles that govern the universe, which can then be incorporated into technological break-throughs into our economy in turn raising mankind’s standard and quality of living.

As a political party we present a broad array of policies that reflect these principles.

In this election, we believe there are two issues which subsume all others, which the CEC alone is addressing. These two issues vitally affect all Australians, whether they are aware of them or not, and we believe that without tackling them, then all local issues, whilst never being unimportant or trivial, can never be adequately addressed.

These two issues are:

• the deepening economic crisis in Australia and the world;
• the danger of Australia being drawn into a war with China and Russia.

Australia has record foreign and household debt; we are losing our productive industries, such as car and steel manufacturing; real unemployment is at least 11 per cent; and our banking system faces wipe out when the property bubble inevitably crashes. The global financial system is a powder keg of bad debt, which underlies the very real threat of WWIII as the same US and British decision makers who committed us to the regime change fiascos in Iraq, Libya and Syria that created ISIS, are now escalating against China, Russia and their partners.

We are fighting to free Australia from the Crown/City of London/Wall Street apparatus of banks and multinational corporations, which seized control of our economy under the policies of free-trade, deregulation and privatisation that the Hawke-Keating ALP started, and the Liberals continued.

These destructive policies are best illustrated today by the smashing of the dairy farmers here in Victoria through poor prices.

We are fighting for economic development using a national bank to invest in large-scale water, power and transport infrastructure projects, in order to expand our agriculture and manufacturing industries and create hundreds of thousands of productive jobs. This program will also save and reinvigorate our vital regional towns and cities.

We are fighting for a just world economic order based on respect for national sovereignty, and the principle of peace through economic development—that nations collaborating on mutually beneficial economic development projects provides the basis for lasting peace. Australia must shift its strategic policy away from over-dependence on the USA and UK, to align with the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) countries’ global development vision. These countries, as well as nations such as Egypt, are already building major infrastructure projects at home and abroad; they have invited all countries to participate in this “win-win” perspective. Australia must join their World Land-Bridge shipping and rail network to transform our trade and economic production. The World Land-Bridge is being built today, but typically, the massive scope and optimism it is bringing around the world today, does not get any oxygen in our media.

As I mentioned above, the CEC has a very broad range of policies, all of which are elaborated on our website, www.cecaust.com.au. Our website also features our community TV program, “The CEC Report”, broadcast in four states, which gives weekly strategic updates on all crucial issues.

If you support these ideas—if you want Australia to be a productive agro-industrial economy with affordable housing and full time jobs for all, if you agree that war with China and Russia is insane—then don’t just vote for the CEC—join us, to fight for the principles of the common good and national sovereignty.

Thank you.

Craig Isherwood