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Byron Shire
March 17, 2024

Grassroots political party launches

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Santi Esposito has launched the Democratic Socialist Party – democraticsocialistpartyaustralia.com. Photo supplied.

Byron Shire is known as a hotbed of alternative politics, and the next generation is stepping up.   

Youth leader, 25-year-old Santi Esposito, has launched a political party that he says aligns with the values of democracy, equality and preserving and enhancing our precious environment.

As the founder of the Democratic Socialist Party (DSP), he says he is looking for 1,500 like-minded supporters to be registered on the ballot by the electoral commission.

Esposito says, ‘As we’re barely stepping out of three years of bushfires, floods and a global pandemic, it’s not hard to see that the systems around us are failing at a wholesale level’.

‘One way to tackle our collective problems is to organise the local community through the democratic process.

Born and bred local

‘I was born and bred in the Northern Rivers, and I see inequality everywhere, it’s clear that capitalism is just not working for the people. There is lots of homelessness in the Byron Shire right now, people and even mums with kids having to sleep in their car or in a van, people are really struggling just to pay rent right now.

‘There wasn’t even a housing guarantee for the people who lost their houses in the floods. I believe housing should be a human right, that’s a core issue for the Democratic Socialist Party’.

Housing affordability, wealth inequality and environment degradation

Mr Esposito says he wants to see issues like housing affordability, wealth inequality and environment degradation given more air-time in the public debate.

‘I was really inspired by the Bernie Sanders campaign in the United States.

‘It just showed that there really is this grassroots movement of people who want change.

‘You have to remember that much of the media outlets are corporate-owned.

‘So if it’s not celebrity glitz and glamour, it just gets swept under the rug, the struggles people in the community are facing should be front page issues.’

Mr Esposito continues: ‘This is a party for the people.

‘I think there’s so much hope to make our communities a better place to live for everyone.

1,500 supporters needed for EC

‘We need 1,500 supporters to be registered on the ballot by the electoral commission.

‘If you’re interested in registering your support for us, please visit www.democraticsocialistpartyaustralia.com or call me on 0427 220 932’.


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6 COMMENTS

  1. What’s the difference between a democratic socialist and a socialist democrat?

    I clicked on your site, it’s one page that says you are going to redistribute property, that’s it, and a photo of AOC with Bernie.
    Nothing about banking reform, nothing about the military industrial complex, nothing about big tech control, nothing relevant to what’s going on right now in the big world.
    A few vague sentences from a youth leader about giving away plots of land so people can grow food, more vague democracy, more environmentalist sophistry.

    The left in America has been playing these silly little games since the 70’s, democratic socialists, socialist democrats, it’s all code for communism. Australia is already a socialist dystopia.
    These ideas are 2 centuries old now, completely irrelevant in the 21st century.

    • Australia is a capitalist dystopia. Yes all those issues I have also written about…….just not on the front page, where space is obviously limited. Happy to discuss, contact me any time.
      No not code for Soviet-style communism, as the book explains in-detail. Consider reading the book before commenting.

    • Don’t confuse “space is limited” with “vague”. They are not the same thing. In a culture where attention spans are goldfish-like, the detail is in the book. That’s what books are for, to go in detail on complex philosophical issues.

    • Get angry at the capitalists mate. You’ve clearly not done anything to change the situation in society, so you aren’t in a position to complain. Start your own political party if you like, otherwise don’t whinge from your armchair like the rest of the masses.

    • The ingratitude this comment displays is frankly staggering. Go whinge to the corporate-controlled media about it, I’m sure they will listen to you.

  2. To answer your questions, so that you don’t complain any further. What I describe in my book is agrarian socialism. You clearly skim-read what was already a heavily condensed dust-jacket description. Frankly, the concerns you raised are derivative of capitalism. So they would automatically not be a part of an agrarian socialist society. This is a fundamental restructuring of how land is divided.

    1. Banking Reform – the socialist position is that banks not exist in the first place.

    2. Military Industrial Complex – these are…capitalist corporations. So I’m obviously against that….

    3. Big Tech – obviously I’m against surveillance

    If you think you’re more “relevant” than a 25 year old, then by all means start your own political party. But I won’t hear boomer brats whingeing from their armchairs while proceeding to do zero for society, the standard boomer tactic, which has achieved nothing for 60 solid years, coming up on a full century of nothingness being achieved.

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