Morwell (38°14′S 146°24′E) is a large country town in central Gippsland, a region in the east of Victoria. Morwell is situated in the heart of Victoria's energy centre, the Latrobe Valley. It is also the administrative centre for Latrobe City. this is a smelly place to live. nobody likes mroewell John Longstaffs Gippsland, Sunday night, February 20th, 1898, depicting the Red Tuesday bushfires that ravaged Gippsland For the electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives, see Division of Gippsland. ... Capital Melbourne Government Const. ... The Latrobe Valley is nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges and the Great Dividing Range in Victoria, Australia. ... Latrobe City (formerly La Trobe Shire) is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. ...

The name Morwell is believed to have been derived from the Aboriginal term More willie, meaning 'woolly possum'. Superfamilies and Families Phalangeroidea Burramyidae Phalangeridae Petauroidea Pseudocheiridae Petauridae Tarsipedidae Acrobatidae A possum is any of about 63 small to medium-sized arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea and Sulawesi. ...

Morwell Victoria
Corner of Hazelwood and Commercial Roads Morwell
Population:	13,505 (2001)
Established:	1870s
Postcode:	3840
Elevation:	80 m
Location:	149 km from Melbourne
LGA:	Latrobe City
State District:	Morwell
Federal Division:	Gippsland

Capital Melbourne Government Const. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1503x921, 204 KB) David Gray, www. ... // The invention of the telephone (1876) by Alexander Graham Bell. ... Postcodes are used by Australia Post to identify postal districts in Australia. ... Basic Definition In geography, the elevation of a geographic location is its height above mean sea level (or some other fixed point). ... km redirects here. ... Melbournes Yarra River is a popular area for walking, jogging, cycling, rowing and for relaxing on the banks with a picnic Melbourne (pronounced ) is the second most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of approximately 3. ... Municipalities of Greater Melbourne City of Banyule City of Bayside City of Boroondara City of Brimbank Shire of Cardinia City of Casey City of Darebin City of Frankston City of Glen Eira City of Greater Dandenong City of Hobsons Bay City of Hume City of Kingston City of Knox City... Latrobe City (formerly La Trobe Shire) is a Local Government Area in Victoria, Australia. ... State Electoral District is a term used to refer to a voting area within Australian states. ... The Electoral district of Morwell is an electoral district of the Victorian Legislative Assembly. ... The Australian House of Representatives is elected from 150 single-member districts called Divisions. ... The Division of Gippsland is an Australian Electoral Division in Victoria. ...

History

The earliest inhabitants of the Morwell district were the Gunai Indigenous Australians. Their first contact with Europeans would have been with pastoralists who came south from the Monaro region of New South Wales in the 1840s in search of pasture for their stock. The Gunai or Kurnai nation is one of the Aboriginal nations of Australia. ... Indigenous Australians are the first human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. ... Pastoralists are people whose main source of livelihood is livestock with which they move seasonally in search of fresh pasture and water. ... Monaro region: between Adaminaby and Cooma Monaro (pronounced mon-air-ro) is the name of a region in the south of New South Wales, Australia. ... Capital Sydney Government Const. ...

In 1841, McMillan and Strzelecki made journeys of exploration through the region which would later be named Gippsland and during the 1840s the squatting runs of Maryvale, Merton Rush and Hazelwood were taken up in the area which is now Morwell. Portrait of McMillan from memorial cairn Angus McMillan (14 August 1810-18 May 1865), was an explorer and pioneer pastoralist in Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. ... Paweł Edmund Strzelecki Count Paweł Edmund Strzelecki also known as Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki KCB CMG FRGS MRS (June 20, 1797 - October 6, 1873), was a Polish nobleman, explorer and geologist. ...

The 1870s were a time of railway building in Victoria. In 1873 the government approved the construction of a railway line from Melbourne to Sale and it was this decision which gave rise to the development of the township of Morwell. Coat of arms of Sale Sale is a city in the Australian state of Victoria, in Wellington Shire. ...

The first public sale of land in the town took place in January 1879 but there were at least ten traders operating in the town by that time.

A brickworks and a pottery were established in the 1880s, a butter factory was built in 1890 and a cordial factory.

Even in the 1880s, coal was seen to be of importance to Morwell. In 1888 two coal mining companies were established—The Great Morwell Coal Mining Company and the Maryvale Proprietary Coal Mining Company. Both these companies produced steam coal and were part of the industrial growth of the town which included timber getting, food processing (butter and cordial factories), brick and pottery manufacture and the transport of goods along the main railway line. Fires in the commercial area in 1890 and 1912 caused major damage to shops. This led to the formation of the Morwell Waterworks Trust and in December 1913 a town water supply from Billy's Creek was connected. Coal Coal (IPA: ) is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by coal mining, either underground mining or open-pit mining (surface mining). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

The development of the Yallourn open cut coal mine and power station in the 1920s contributed to Morwell's development, providing employment and trade. Yallourn, Victoria was built in the 1920s to house employees of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria who operated the nearby Yallourn Power Station complex. ...

The 1980s and 1990s were a growth period for the township of Morwell. Schools were built to educate the children of families settling in the area.

A major Research and Development project into the conversion of brown coal into oil, (Brown Coal Liquefaction Victoria or BCLV) was established in Morwell in 1983/84. Funded by the Japanese Government at a cost of over one billion dollars this project established a 50 tonne per day pilot plant which ran until 1991. The project saw several hundred Japanese families move to the area and led to the establishment of a unique educational experiment in the form of a Japanese/Australian combined curriculum at the Commercial Road Primary School. Coal Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by mining. ...

Thriving on the success of the power industry, Morwell developed into a town offering substantial housing and financial opportunities for its many residents. With the general growth of the Latrobe Valley, Morwell's success appeared destined to continue. However restructuring and privatisation of the State Electricity Commission in the 1990s led to massive job losses in the region.

The ascendency of Jeff Kennett to the premiership of Victoria saw the demise of the town accelerated with the cutting of services. Most State Government offices were moved away from Morwell - a predominantly Labor voting and strongly unionised town - to its neighbour, Traralgon, this caused much tension towards the Coalition and now the town has one of the highest Labor votes in the region. This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Capital Melbourne Government Const. ... A Trade Union (Labour union) ... is a continuous association of wage-earners for the purpose of maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment. ... Location of Traralgon in Victoria (red) Traralgon is a regional city located in the Latrobe Valley in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. ...

Amalgamation of the local councils under a commission saw the major civic centre move to Traralgon. With the re-establishment of an elected council, the civic centre was moved back to Morwell and the new Council Building constructed in 2005 is leading to a revitalisation of the city centre. The new Justice Precinct was completed in 2006 and is further increasing CBD activity. As of mid-2005 the town still has more than 40% of its retail stores empty and a high unemployment rate, higher than those of Traralgon or Moe. Moe (postcode: 3825, ) is a town in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. ...

Morwell is the headquarters of the Central Gippsland Institute of Technical and Further Education. It contains a major regional art gallery with an excellent local collection and is noted for its extensive rose gardens. Nearby at Churchill is the Gippsland Campus of Monash University. A commemorative bust of Lt Gen Sir Stanley Savige was erected in 2006. Born in Morwell, Savige founded Legacy following World War 1 to assist widows and families of servicemen. Technical and Further Education or TAFE institutions are a type of adult education organisation in Australia. ...

See also

• HM Prison Morwell River

This article needs to be wikified. ...

External links

• ABS Profile