Here on OLO we regularly discuss the big players: the major political parties, the large religions, big business and relations between major international powers.

In this thread I’d like to talk about the various fringe and minority groups which populate the Australian landscape, and consider their impact on our society.

I’ll kick off with a personal favourite: the Citizens Electoral Council.

You may have encountered the CEC. Its members lurk in Australian CBDs distributing the CEC’s newsletter, the New Citizen. They also had five minutes of fame in 2007, when Lateline demolished the mockumentary “The Great Climate Change Swindle”. The Q&A that followed consisted of a battery of bizarre non-sequiturs about the Nazis, eugenics and carbon 14 from CEC members who were in the audience.

Put simply, the CEC is the Australian wing of an international personality cult – a sort of economic Scientology – revolving around the economist Lyndon LaRouche. LaRouchians, and hence the CEC, agitate for a range of economic reforms, but are also committed to a range of highly…original conspiracy theories. For example, they believe that the British Royal Family secretly controls the world through a complex network of spies and traitors, and that Martin Bryant carried out the Port Arthur massacre on direct orders from Queen Elizabeth II.

Interestingly, the CEC is notable for its political activism: it stands for state elections, down with the Shooters Party and Natural Law Party. Any number of small cults operate in this country, but none that I know of have the motivation and conviction to register a political party.

Organisations like the CEC raise on obvious question: who does this appeal to? Who reads the CEC’s material and thinks “Aha! I always knew Prince Phillip was the puppet-master controlling the Pentagon! At last, someone is brave enough to tell the truth!”?

As for the influence of the CEC, I’m pessimistic. I think Australia’s paranoid schizophrenics are too divided in their beliefs to rally behind one ideology. But then, if they can get the religious crazies to convert to economic craziness, the CEC may become a viable political entity

Lyndon LaRouche is a very smart man.There is a lot of substance in what he espouses.George Bush senior had him jailed under false charges and this has made him very bitter.He is too confrontationist in his approach because of this.One thing is certain,our monetary system owned by these global reserve banksters is totally dysfunctional.Their reign must end soon.

Question answered

Dear Sancho,

I was under the impression that the CEC was
only registered as a party in 2007. That
they were only a minor contender in the
political arena.

How strongly did they poll in the last election?

That should be an indication of their popularity.

There are some very basic conditions for a new party to succied.
Does it express the needs, benefits, interests, hopes, of a group of people or not ?
How big is the group of people? where they live, what is their financial, professional, social status?
What is their relation with the mass media? What is their relation with other social, political, religious etc groups?
How is this party organized , is open or closed to people, in local or national level, has it clear goals, clear tactics, is its leadership respectfull with good name or not?
Is it ready to cooperate with major parties to promote its interests or it only is a protest party.
If it is ready to cooperate with a major party with which one and on which base?
ETC...
If a new party does not have clear goals, does not express the needs of group of people, if it is not open to people, if.. if...if then this party has no future, then it can not play any role in the political or social arena.
I never heard about the parties you wrote.
Antonios Symeonakis
Adelaid

Bugsy

ROFL

Arjay

Sometimes silence is a wise choice.