Rod Doel - Citizens Party Senate Candidate for Queensland

I am semi-retired at 65, and live on the Sunshine Coast, having spent most of my life as a plant operator in civil and road construction. I have been a keen surfer and snorkel diver for more than 30 years and have two sons, both good hard-working young men.

I was first introduced to the Citizens Party (formerly Citizens Electoral Council—CEC) back in 2002 at an organising table site in Sunbury, Victoria. The party had done extensive research into the history of Australia’s fight to become a true Republic. After reading their pamphlet and attending a few meetings and classes, it was evident that this party is a school of ideas founded on universal principles that go back hundreds and thousands of years: science, poetry, philosophy; how a real physical economy works.

I whole heartedly endorse the Citizens Party’s five-point program for Australia:

1. A national banking system;
   (Includes a Commonwealth National Credit Bank to replace the Reserve Bank; a national development/infrastructure bank to lend to governments for public infrastructure projects, farmers, manufacturers etc.; and a Commonwealth Postal Savings Bank to ensure retail banking services for all Australians, especially in regional areas, guaranteed deposits, and support for the cash-payments system.)
2. Stop Bail-in (seizure of bank deposits by failing banks) and Glass-Steagall banking separation (reduce risks to the public by separating speculative from commercial banking activities);
3. A moratorium on home and farm foreclosures (this protective measure will be more critical than ever as inflation and interest rates rise, leaving tens of thousands of homeowners, small businesses and farmers at risk of default).
4. Nation-building infrastructure and science-driver projects to revive the productive economy (jobs and development).
5. International cooperation on financial architecture and trade, including the principle of “Peace through economic development”.