Citizens Electoral Council
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Citizens Electoral Council of Australia
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| Leader | Craig Isherwood |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Coburg, Victoria |
| Ideology | LaRouche movement |
| Website | |
| cecaust.com.au | |
The Citizens Electoral Council of Australia (CEC) is a minor political party in Australia affiliated with the international LaRouche Movement, led by American political activist Lyndon LaRouche. For the purpose of federal registration with the Australian Electoral Commission it reported having 549 members in 2007. They have been described as "far right", "fascist" and "lunar right", as well as "ideologues on the economic Left". However, the party has campaigned explicitly against "fascism", which is the term it used for certain policy trends that started under the John Howard-led Coalition government, specifically counter-terrorism laws, for their impact on civil liberties, and the mandatory detention and offshore processing of refugees.
The original CEC was established in 1988 by local residents of the Kingaroy region of Queensland; members of the Australian League of Rights, an extreme right-wing group led by Eric Butler, were unsuccessful in taking over the new party. Its purpose was to lobby for binding voter-initiated referenda. CEC candidate Trevor Perrett won the 1988 Barambah state by-election in Queensland, held after former Queensland Premier Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen resigned from State Parliament in 1987. However, Perrett soon switched to the National Party. By 1989, the CEC leadership was under the influence of the Lyndon LaRouche movement. By 1992, the CEC identified itself as the Australian branch of the broad international movement associated with LaRouche; National Secretary Craig Isherwood renamed the organisational newsletter and moved the headquarters from rural Queensland to a Melbourne suburb, with direct communications links to LaRouche's US headquarters established.
League of Rights publications now warn their readers to avoid the CEC, citing attacks on the British Royal Family for supposed drug connections and LaRouche's criminal convictions. They warn that the LaRouche movement is "strongly pro-republican" and that they have received reports that LaRouche's organisation is being used by the Zionists.
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