Politics & Council
22 November, 2023
Is our great country character at risk of being lost?
By Cr DAN STRAUB LODDON is a unique place, offering a diverse range of opportunities and lifestyles, with the hard work and great innovative business savvy leadership from our predominant Agriculture sector, this has shaped the region and the people...
By Cr DAN STRAUB
LODDON is a unique place, offering a diverse range of opportunities and lifestyles, with the hard work and great innovative business savvy leadership from our predominant Agriculture sector, this has shaped the region and the people that live here.
Stories and poems of yesteryear highlight and celebrate the characteristics of rural Australians. Whilst, the sometimes harsh and unforgiving landscape can bring the toughest to their knees.
We live in a land of beauty and that alone commands a sense of respect and appreciation. We live with the land, and as modern Australians we too have a connection with the land, just like the generations before us.
Wherever you live across Loddon, town or country, you are part of rural Australia and with that comes a sense of pride.
Warm, welcoming, friendly faces and communities that look out for each other and play a huge roll in taking ownership and direction of the places where we live.
Like our unique and diverse landscape, country people are the same, we share common values that are generational, and we share beliefs, traditions and cultures that show a conservative point of difference. We embrace this way of life and all its opportunities, but with changes or shifts in society, country Australia faces a new and different set of challenges that change the landscape and its people.
We are a Community of Communities, we don’t have one big town Centre we have a varying range of small towns, villages, hamlets and locations that make up our diverse municipality and along with that comes heightened challenges.
Rural Australia across the board had seen population decreases over the past 20 years or so, this in turn has led to questions regarding the long term sustainability of towns and villages with very small populations.
People of these communities is what holds it all together, we have all gone through some hard times and we have all come out the other side stronger, no doubt more hard times are yet to come, but we have seen a slow and small population increase across Loddon which is a positive in terms of growing towns and local economies.
But with population growth it can also have the opposite effect of placing more demand on resources, stretching already tight budgets and having a changing effect on the demographic of what is a strong country conservative supporter base.
Rural Australia is attractive to the tree change aspect of inner city residents, wanting to escape the hustle and bustle of inner city living and rejoicing in the slower pace, country lifestyle and community aspects of our Loddon towns. Inner city expectations and mentalities can fracture the coherent rural way of life, this can present as both negative and a positive.
We live in a great democracy where everyone’s values and opinions are respected, but societal changes show a strong shift in ideology, away from traditional country values, that in turn put growing pressure on rural Australia and the industries that support our towns and communities.
We are a great multicultural society, and are very accepting of positive change, we are realists, down to earth and show a great commonsense approach, this is where the true country character evolved from and still exists today.
There is a certain aspect and teaching to be had if you want to live in country Australia. This way of life is something we enjoy every day. Yes, our landscape is changing,
Yes, we face pressures that are out of our control, but together as county Australians, who share conservative values, we can survive, and we can pass on our country characteristics and county characters to the next generation, if they are willing to learn.
* Cr Dan Straub is the Loddon Shire’s Tandarra Ward councillor and has concluded two terms as Mayor