Moe

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Moe

Victoria, Australia

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Moe, city in western Gippsland, Victoria, Australia. It lies in the La Trobe River valley about 84 miles (135 km) by rail southeast of Melbourne. Its name is derived from an Aboriginal word for mud swamp. Moe was settled in 1856 and was proclaimed a borough in 1955 and a city in 1963. Its industries include engineering, photographic processing, concrete pipe manufacturing, sawmilling, textile making, and dairying. Many of the residents of Moe are employed in Yallourn (4 miles [6 km] to the east) by the State Electricity Commission, a company that had planned and developed the area since 1921 but which was broken up and largely privatized in the mid-1990s. Formerly a town, Yallourn was demolished in the 1970s to allow open-cut mining of the coal below. Large brown-coal mines at Yallourn supply briquette plants, gas-manufacturing plants, and two power stations, which produce much of the state’s electricity. Pop. (2001) urban centre, 15,512; (2011) Moe-Newborough statistical local area, 15,292.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.

Latrobe Valley

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Latrobe Valley

valley, Victoria, Australia

Also known as: La Trobe Valley

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Latrobe also spelled:: La Trobe

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Much-loved Churchill Hotel destroyed by overnight fire in Latrobe Valley town • May 13, 2025, 3:02 AM ET (ABC News (Australia))

Latrobe Valley, river valley in southeastern Victoria, Australia. It is one of the most important economic areas in the state.

The Latrobe River rises in the Eastern Highlands near Mount Baw Baw in the Gippsland district. Flowing in a southeasterly direction, it passes the cities of Moe and Yallourn, where it turns to flow almost directly east, past Traralgon. The Latrobe is joined by its main tributaries, the Thomson and Macalister rivers, near Sale, 6 miles (10 km) from where it enters Lake Wellington, one of the Gippsland lakes. Originally called the Glengarry, the 70-mile- (112-kilometre-) long river was renamed to honour Charles La Trobe, first lieutenant governor of Victoria. The seasonal variations in its flow are marked.

Near the river’s mouth, agriculture—primarily dairying—is the main economic activity. Farther west, the middle Latrobe Valley has one of the world’s largest deposits of brown coal; it has been exploited since 1919. There are large thermal power stations at Yallourn, Morwell, Loy Yang, and Hazelwood, all fueled by coal, and briquettes are produced. The valley also has some forestry, which supplies its wood pulp and paper mills, and there is a plant that processes natural gas.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski.