It is a far different place to the white sliced bread homogeneity of the Australia of the 1950s. That was even with the arrival in the post-World War II years of large numbers of displaced Europeans, who forever changed the face of what was the average Australian and played such a major role, for example, in building the Snowy Mountains scheme.

Since then there have been various waves of new migrants; from Vietnamese “boat people” in the 1970s to the African immigrants of today.

It is always a major challenge for any cultural group to get a foothold in their new country, with having to surmount the difficulties of a new language, finding a home and being able to find work.

But there can be no doubting the enormous benefits this brings to both them and the community. When it is reduced to its most simple approximation, we all are from the same family but of course we have so many different stories to tell.

There are always difficulties as our newest Australians make the enormous effort to adjust, but so often this is done with great success – for the joy of being in a peaceful, democratic society and the determination to make the most of such opportunities.

This all means it is overall a good thing that we continue to take people from other nations and a nonsense that doing this takes away jobs from others.

It is been firmly established that migrants create even more demand in our economy, which in turn creates more jobs.

Not everyone feels this way towards immigration, of course, so at a time when this country’s intake is under scrutiny, Wagga is again showing why it opens its arms to immigrants from across the globe. 

The shire actively welcomes refugees and there are signs placed throughout the entrances to the town stating just that. 

This weekend a Harmony Day luncheon will held for residents to join together with others from different cultures who have now made Wagga their home. 

It will be an opportunity to not just sample the delicious food on offer, but also get to know the shire’s newest residents. 

Many have quite the story to tell and it's heartwarming to see more and more residents are happy to help with settling into a new life and way of living.