Changing town

Having lived in and around Warragul for the past 40 odd years I have witnessed so much change.

Not just physically in the way it has grown and expanded, but also in the way the community has altered.

What used to be basically a white, AngloSaxon Christian community has diversified into a broader worldlier one.

If it had stayed the same, then Warragul as a community would have stagnated and become more insular.

With new people arriving, bringing their own cultural backgrounds and ethnicity, Warragul has grown both socially and educationally. Initially the demands were for these people to assimilate, devolve themselves of their own identity and background and thankfully that attitude of conformity has mellowed and Warragul is the richer for it.

Now the only demands on newcomers are for them to respect the law, people as individuals and what the community provides.

While some of the older generation still prejudge and stereotype people based on skin colour, language, gender preference and so on; it is the young ones, particularly the children, who look beyond those prejudices and see people as just people.

Hopefully their values will become the dominant force and the acceptance of other people’s religious beliefs, culture and social mores will become the norm

The Warragul community cannot cocoon itself away from the rest of the world. If it does try, it will lose the immense benefits that different people offer. Instead it should embrace the opportunity to learn from others.

Greg Tuck, Warragul