Russell Francis - Citizens Party Senate Candidate for South Australia

Russell Francis
Citizens Party Senate Candidate for South Australia
Enquiries Phone: 0422 086 951    Email: Russell@citizensparty.org.au

I always made my home in South Australia and grew up in Adelaide. For the last 30 years I’ve chosen to live near the Port Adelaide precinct in the north-western suburbs where I’ve raised three children who are all now in their twenties.

Professionally, I work as a Project Manager and Business Analyst. For over 20 years I’ve worked on a variety of IT projects for medium- and large-scale organisations in a diverse range of industries including mining, power generation, gas transport, supply chain logistics and healthcare.

My journey into politics began in earnest several years ago and grows out of what has always been an abiding interest in geopolitics and international affairs. However, this interest began to increase in focus during the 2016 US election and Brexit campaigns. I had an epiphany, as I was struck by how polarised and partisan the mass media were on both sides of the geo-political debate on these issues, and how little time the media had to support any middle ground or centrist views. I found myself despairing at the apparent inability of each side to respect each other’s point of view and commit to meaningful dialogue. Over the period 2016 to 2018 it became abundantly clear to me that this political polarisation was ubiquitous, and I became convinced that this must change; I found myself wanting to be a part of that change.

Two other events happened, and this took the form of watching the 2015 movie The Big Short and, gaining some exposure to the memoirs of Major-General Smedley D. Butler, the author of War is a Racket; I have since emerged as a "red-pilled" (enlightened) Australian, feeling quite inoculated (but always on guard) against the spin and lies promulgated about the world economy and the various justifications for waging war.

I came across the Citizens Party's Community Television broadcasts quite by accident, which led me to their YouTube channel. After learning about the ideas and solutions espoused by the party, I began to donate regularly and participate in some campaigns and senate enquiries; I learned that the first time you ring up an MP or Senator and register your point of view is the hardest, but it gets easier every time after that! In short, I’d found a political party that I am proud to associate with and promote to neighbours, friends, family and work colleagues.

Now I’m ready to go public and assist my Citizens Party colleagues in the Battle for Australia and the wider world through peaceful cooperation and economic development. The former requires a recommitment to the art of diplomacy and the latter requires the capitalisation of a National Public Bank. These two critical capabilities align perfectly with my number one overriding political concern: The dangerously diminished sovereignty of Australia as a Nation and its individual citizenry.

Thankfully, the Australian Citizens Party shares this concern, and the campaign platform has solutions to deal with this. National Banking delivers national sovereignty by developing the physical economy of the nation and loosening the chains that private money powers have over the decisions we should make for our economy. And a sovereign foreign policy frees us from the burden of having to march in lockstep with our American, British, Canadian and Kiwi allies over every single issue, even to our own detriment as a people and a nation in relation to the wider world. In fact, a sovereign economy and a sovereign foreign policy are synergistically intertwined.

We’ve got to change this situation before the money men and the warmongers take away any more of what’s left of our sovereignty. I am therefore compelled to do something and that’s why I’m running as a candidate for the Australian Citizens Party in the Federal Senate. We need concerned and tough-minded people like my colleagues and I to be at the heart of the legislative process in this country. I urge you to join us in this long-overdue mission. Join with me and vote me into the Senate and together let’s fight to return real sovereignty to Australia and its people.

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