Australia is at the centre of a global debt meltdown that has been triggered by the wave of defaults on sub-prime mortgages in the U.S., which looms as a grave danger to the nation because both Howard and Rudd refuse to acknowledge it.

Over 250,000 Americans defaulted on their mortgages in September, as part of a rising wave that is on track to wipe out seven million homeowners, and plunge America and the world into a depression.

The U.S. Federal Reserve's desperate attempt to bail out the bankrupt U.S. banking system by slashing interest rates has only served to collapse the U.S. dollar, which in turn undermines the entire, U.S. dollar-denominated, world monetary system.

Despite claims of unprecedented prosperity, Australians are being swamped by the rising cost of living because Australia is more vulnerable to this debt crisis than most other countries.

Australia's household debt to annual income ratio of 175 percent is the highest in the world; even more terrifying is that it has risen three times faster than in the U.S.

The current rate of 800 home foreclosures nationally per week is poised to explode as interest rates continue to rise, with 70,000 mortgage holders in crisis, and a further 1.8 million households officially classed as "stressed", in that 30 percent or more of their weekly household income goes to service their mortgage.

Australia's national farm debt is now at $44 billion, up from $24 billion in 1998, and threatens to drive more farmers off the land this year than at any time since the great depression.

As the so-called "leaders" debate on October 21 identified, Howard and Rudd continue to ignore the national and global debt crisis at the nation's peril.

In America, physical economist Lyndon LaRouche's Homeowners and Bank Protection Act, will solve the crisis by erecting a firewall, protecting the people while the financial system is completely reorganised, and hundreds of trillions of debt written off. This crucial legislation has been tabled for debate in five U.S. State Legislatures—Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Massachusetts and Florida.

Australia urgently requires a similar approach, which the Citizens Electoral Council has prepared legislation for in our book, What Australia Must Do to Survive the Depression.

For the latest on the CEC's Federal Election campaign, see /election