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I am contesting the seat of Nicholls for the Citizens Party, having run in previous elections, and knowing that our nation and the people of Nicholls face one of the most challenging periods of our lifetime. The degree of corruption and incompetence amongst our so-called leaders is unparalleled in our history, and the globalisation/free-market/deregulation policies of the last 40 years or so, promulgated by the major parties, are coming home to roost, both here and around the world. Nothing short of a complete reform of the banking and financial system is needed.

I am 67 years of age, with three adult children and ten grandchildren. I now work as a truck driver but spent my early life as a dairy farmer. I enjoy fishing, football, Australian history and have a particular interest in the area of banking, economics and credit creation.

 I was born the son of original soldier settlers at Katunga, and both my parents were life members of the Numurkah RSL. Over the years I have served my local community on numerous boards and councils, including as Secretary of the Katunga Scouts Assn. (1990), the Katunga South School Council (1991) and Secretary of the Katunga Football Club (1996-97).

I have always been concerned about the future for our farmers and producers and the political and economic issues they face. Prior to joining the Citizens Party in late 2007, at which time I ran as a candidate for the first time, I had been active in a number of other political campaigns including as co-organiser of the “Save the Lucky Country” rally held at Katunga in 1992 in conjunction with Danny Johnson’s “Save Australia Now” Committee. The guest speaker at that event was former Senator and author Paul McLean, who spoke on the role of banks in the economy and his book “Bankers AND Bastards”.

I was also the Murray Valley Co-ordinator of the “Australia First” campaign “Save our Farms, Factories and Future” run by the Australian Association of Independent Businesses. In 1997 I took on the role of Assistant Secretary and Treasurer of the Moira Branch of the Australian Reform Party and also ran as a candidate for the Moira Shire Council.

As a former dairy farmer, I am outraged at the effect deregulation has had on the industry and combined with the privatisation of water. Since water rights were separated from property rights, the future for many of the primary producers in my electorate has been in grave jeopardy. This, combined with the failure of our government and banks to serve the common good interest of the nation in preference for mega-profits vacuumed from the property market, and their own vested interests, cannot be tolerated if we wish to maintain food security of our great nation. Inflationary costs of water, fertilizer, power, fuel and the supply chain issues for machinery and parts and other essential agricultural and manufacturing inputs, require urgent attention and cannot be left to “the magic of the market place”! I support the concept of “parity pricing” for farm commodities, as pioneered by Carl Wilken from Iowa in the 1940s, to guarantee food production, to safeguard our farmers, and to grow our national economy.

I believe passionately in the ideals and policies that the ACP has fought for, for more than 30 years. We cannot stand idly by and allow our citizens’ life-savings and deposits to be commandeered to bailout the criminal banks. On 14th Feb 2018, the Turnbull Government passed the APRA Crisis Resolution Bill into law with only seven of the 76 Senators present in the chamber. The Government rushed the bill to a vote which passed “on the voices” with no opposition from Labor or the Greens Senators present. The process was hurried through to ensure that Senators who planned to move an amendment to the bill’s bail- in provision so it did not include bank deposits, did not have the chance and weren’t present when it was passed into law. That is a Liberal/National Coalition Government passing bail-in, allowing the banks to legally confiscate your savings.

We must clean out ASIC and the other useless bank regulators and reform our banking system. And above all we absolutely must return to a system of national banking and credit creation in order to build a real future for our children and grandchildren. These are the visionary ideas that give me and the nation real hope and I will not give up the fight on behalf of all the deserving people of my electorate.

I take heart from these inciteful words from King O’Malley, the man who created the original Commonwealth Bank in 1911:

“The Australian is such a lovable fellow, the salt of the earth. So vigorous physically, but dulled mentally for want of sharpening up with knowledge. How he could expand! … But he’ll wake up good and proper some day. Then let the rest of the world look this way—there’ll be something to see! That I’ll promise you.”