HM Prison Morwell River

Background

A nursery and workers camp was established by the Forests Commission Victoria (FCV) in 1949 at Olsens Bridge at the head of the Morwell River, which is just east of Boolarra in Victoria. The nursery was established to grow mountain ash seedlings for the Strzelecki Ranges reforestation scheme. The scheme, which began in the early 1930s, ran quietly and successfully for nearly 60 years and is believed to have been the largest and most sustained reforestation project of its type in Australia. The FCV workers camp was later to become the HM Morwell River Prison in May 1961, where up to 80 inmates worked in the nursery and planted seedlings across the Strzeleckis under the guidance of FCV employees. The Prison was a "Minimum Security" facility and escapes occurred in 1962, 1967 and 1968.

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