CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
For Ross Wylett (68), maintaining progressive political views is much harder than it is for most bleeding heart lefties.
For one, he’s made a lot of money out of the workers.
And two, he’s a rich old white man who lives in a suburb that puts fairy lights in the trees for no reason.
After a fruitful career as a manufacturer of fibreglass ceiling tiles, the retired Fitzroy grandfather finds himself often having to preface any long lunch with the fact that he votes for the Australian Greens and believes that refugees are humans.
“I mean, it’s not that hard to be a critic of the Liberal Party nowadays… Even the bluebloods have had enough of Morrison” he says.
“But yes. It was very difficult for many years. I kept my support of Adam quite close to my chest under Tony Abbott”
Ross says after a lifetime of discreetly donating money to Indigenous charities and organising lunches with Labor politicians and Kerry Packer – his extensive art collection just wasn’t giving enough hints to the fact that he thinks Alan Jones should have been imprisoned for the part he played in inciting the Cronulla Riots.
That’s why he’s had to get on the front foot in recent years, and attempt to lure his Liberal-voting friends from the Men’s Only clubs of Melbourne over to the right side of history.
And as someone who is now front and centre at every Adam Bandt rally, he’s as committed as ever to the cause.
But this doesn’t mean he agrees with EVERY policy put forward by the Australian Greens.
“I do feel like during the pandemic, the mission statement changed a little bit.” he says.
“Just all of this talk about housing, it’s a bit daunting If I’m honest. I don’t know if I agree with changing the goal posts for hardworking Australians who had the foresight to invest wisely in certain assets
Ross is of course talking about the many different yet-to-be announced housing affordability policies that both the Greens and Labor party keep alluding to.
He says there are ways to tackle this issue without destroying the housing market, and he feels like the introduction of ‘affordable’ or ‘social housing’ could disrupt the assets for a lot of people who would otherwise vote for the Greens.
“I’m all for eradicating homelessness through a universal basic income wage, or you know, disaster bunkers on Frankston Beach…”
“But to just shoehorn people into homes. In suburbs that they might not feel economically comfortable in”
“It feels like you are setting them up to fail”
