The Latrobe Valley is an inland geographical district and urban area of the Gippsland region in the state of Victoria, Australia. The traditional owners are the Brayakaulung of the Gunai nation. The district lies east of Melbourne and nestled between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the Baw Baw Ranges, part of the Great Dividing Range, to the north. Mount St Phillack () is the highest peak to the north of the Latrobe Valley, due north of Moe. The highest peak to the south is Mt Tassie (), south of Traralgon.
The area has three major centres, from west to east, , Morwell and Traralgon, with minor centres including , , , and . The population of the Latrobe Valley is approximately 125,000.
The valley draws its name from the Latrobe River which flows eastward, through the valley. According to Les Blake, in 1841 William Adams Brodribb, an early European settler, named the river in honour of Charles La Trobe, Lieutenant Governor of the Port Phillip District. A. W. Reed also attributes Brodribb to naming the river in honour of La Trobe; yet Reed claims that the river was discovered by Angus McMillan in 1840 who named the watercourse as Glengarry River.
Geography
While the Latrobe River flows into Lake Wellington to the east of and includes in its drainage basin a significant part of central Gippsland, the region conventionally known as the Latrobe Valley occupies an inland area between the Strzelecki Ranges and Baw Baw Ranges between Drouin and Rosedale – with three major urban areas Moe, Morwell and Traralgon, between the Strzelecki Ranges to the south and the westernmost reaches of the Victorian Alps to the north.
Climate
It has a temperate climate meaning mild temperatures with large amounts of rain, the occasional frost and snow on neighbouring hills. February is the warmest month in the Latrobe Valley with an average temperature range of and the coldest month is July with an average temperature range of . The most rain occurs in late winter and spring, and average yearly rainfall is approximately .
Temperatures on Mount Baw Baw, to the north of Moe, generally peak around cooler than the major urban areas during the day.
Demographics
There are three major population centres in the Latrobe Valley, all located within the City of Latrobe local government area:
Moe west Latrobe Valley
Morwellcentral Latrobe Valley
Traralgoneastern Latrobe Valley
The primary hospital is the Latrobe Regional Hospital located on the Princes Highway between Morwell and Traralgon.
Smaller towns are Tyers, Newborough, Yinnar, Yallourn North, Churchill (site of the local campus of Federation University) and Boolarra.
Economy
Key industry sectors include health care, power generation, retail, paper manufacture, timber mills, agriculture, dairy, timber, information technology, engineering and education. The valley provides 85% of Victoria's electricity and has a substantial engineering sector supporting the power generation, pulp and paper production and food processing industries, etc. The tertiary education sector attracts local, interstate and international students.
Despite its outside image as a regional economy dominated by mining and electricity, the region employs more hospital and aged care workers than power industry workers and has important service, health care and education sectors. Hospitals are the largest employer in the regional economy at 5% of the workforce, followed by power industry workers at 4.2%, supermarket and grocery store workers at 3%, and aged care workers at 2.9%.
Logging is also an important industry in the hills to the north and south, with a major paper mill located at Maryvale, near Morwell. In the rugged north of the region is located the historic gold-mining town of Walhalla, amid mountains forming the west of Alpine National Park and nearby Baw Baw National Park, which includes a small winter ski resort.
Industry
The Latrobe Valley is significant as the centre of Victoria's energy industry, specifically the mining and burning of brown coal to produce electricity. The area produces a total of approximately 85% of the electricity for the entire state of Victoria and supplies some electricity to New South Wales and Tasmania. The valley is home to four of the highest electricity producing thermal power stations in Australia. Power plants located in the Latrobe Valley include Loy Yang Power Stations A & B, Yallourn Power Station, Jeeralang Power Station (Gas) plus the former Hazelwood Power Station (closed 2017) and Energy Brix Power Station (closed August 2014). The Latrobe power stations emit more mercury than hard coal stations.