School of Geography - Theses
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ItemMultiple purpose river basin development: principles and practice in the Latrobe Valley of Victoria( 1968)No abstract available
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ItemEnvironmental floods for Victorian regulated rivers( 2005)Dams, whilst critical to society for water supply, impact on the environment and alter flooding patterns downstream of a dam. Floods perform an important role in sustaining many abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem, such as channel maintenance and triggers for fish spawning. Environmental floods are a promising management technique but their release has only been reported from 16 of more than 45,000 large dams worldwide. This thesis is the first review of issues surrounding the implementation of environmental floods from large Victorian dams. The study identifies the large dams in Victoria that (a) have the most altered flood hydrology downstream of the dam, and (b) have the least physical constraints on releasing floods. The extent of flood regime change from 21 dams is quantified using flood statistics. All of the 21 dams reduced the magnitude of natural 1 to 10-year recurrence interval floods and extended the recurrence interval of natural floods. A worldwide review of environmental floods reveals six major limitations to environmental floods and five factors common to all successful environmental flood releases. One of these limitations - capacity of the dam to release an environmental flood is examined in more detail. Twelve Victorian dams have the physical capacity to release a natural one-year recurrence interval flood. Foremost among these are Thomson, Rocklands, Eildon and Upper Yarra dams which have a high impact on floods and potential to release a flood without requiring infrastructure modifications. Implementing an environmental flood in Victoria is a long term process taking up to ten years. Environmental flood design requires that a link between flood change and ecological condition be established. This requires substantial data to be available. Coordination among stakeholders involved in environmental flood planning, particularly optimising the operation of a dam to maximise environmental benefits of a flood release while minimising impacts on other water users, is a key aspect of environmental flood implementation.
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ItemAgriculture and land use in the Ovens and Kiewa River valleys of N. E. Victoria( 1964)No abstract available
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ItemRestructuring in the auto-component industry in Victoria in the 1990s( 2003)The 1990s was a period of restructuring for auto-component firms in Victoria. However, restructuring within the industry was not confined to Australia, but took place internationally and within approximately the same time frame. For students of economic geography this raises questions about the relationship of places between the local and the global and the relationship of processes between economic activities in the different spheres. My aim, then, is to describe and explain the restructuring in the auto-components industry in Victoria in the context of global restructuring. In this, my research is guided by four key questions. What happened in the auto-component industry in the 1990s? What were the factors involved? What was the broader context for understanding restructuring in the auto-component industry in Victoria? How important was this context to understanding local changes? In reviewing various theories of industry restructuring, I find in either the macro or national approaches a problem in conceptualising the relationship between the global and local. A framework developed by Fagan and Le Heron, based on the geography of accumulation, offers a synthesis to overcome this problem. In the thesis I argue that with restructuring of commodity chains in the international automotive industry, the concept of a `national' auto-component industry has given way to a `regional' (inter-national) or `global' concept of industry. Further I show that Australian Government policies and public debates were important factors in the restructuring of the auto-component industry in Victoria, in influencing the structure of that industry and its links with the global industry. Using data collected in a survey of auto-component firms in Victoria, I argue that restructuring favoured particular types of firms and strategies and disadvantaged others. In particular, firms pursuing a globalisation strategy benefited from more liberal trading arrangements. I conclude that globalisation of the auto-component industry is far from complete, and that it represents but one future of several possible futures for auto-component firms in Victoria. Furthermore, the future of the industry depends not only on its new competitiveness, but also on domestic factors, and most importantly, what sort of government assistance the industry will receive in the future.
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ItemThe development of the Port of Melbourne 1877-1971( 1974)The main purpose of this study is to describe and explain the physical and commercial development of the Port of Melbourne in the period 1877-1971. The year 1877 has been selected for the beginning of the study because it was the year in which the Melbourne Harbor Trust was established. The port has been modified in several ways since then and is now one of the most modern and best-equipped in the world. In tracing the port's evolution for nearly a century, the writer has tried to examine those factors, both human and physical, which have influenced its growth - world economic and political conditions, economic activities in its hinterland, policy decisions of the port authority and the national government and site conditions. The study does not encompass merely the physical development of the port, but also changes and trends in its trade and shipping. In addition, an attempt has been made to investigate those problems connected with the port's development. The growth and expansion of the manufacturing industries in the port district have also been considered. As well as these, the physical setting of the port, the discovery of Port Phillip Bay, Hobson's Bay and the River Yarra, the geology of the Yarra Delta, the condition of the port before 1877 and the genesis of the Melbourne Harbor Trust have been briefly referred to.
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ItemThe geomorphology of Mallacoota Inlet, East Gippsland( 1977)Mallacoota Inlet is an estuary located 537 kilometres by road east of Melbourne (Fig. 1.1). The estuary occupies a drowned river valley cut by the Genoa and Wallagaraugh Rivers at lower sea levels during the Pleistocene era. Mallacoota Inlet has a total shoreline length of 85 kilometres, a surface area of 25 x 106 square metres and a volume at low water of approximately 73 x 10 cubic metres, and is consequently the largest estuary or estuarine lagoon occurring east of the Gippsland Lakes. Two major hydrographic provinces may be differentiated within the Mallacoota system: (1) the basins, and (2) the linear channels. Three major basins comprise Mallacoota Inlet; the Upper Lake, the Lower Lake, and the North East Arm. A further, smaller basinal area is Double Creek Arm (Fig. 1.2). These basins differ in depth and sediment characteristics, and both these characteristics are related to the proximity to, and the source of, sediment within the Mallacoota system. The Upper Lake is a broad, shallow (less than three metres), and relatively flat bottomed basin with margins which are for the most part relatively gently sloping (Figs. 1.3 and 1.4). This basin, being closest to the point of river discharge, receives the greatest amount of fluvial sediment. On the other hand, the North East Arm is a relatively deep (up to six metres) flat bottomed basin with steeply sloping margins
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ItemAn investigation into the methodology of projecting the future population of Melbourne( 1979)The study of population projection has always been of considerable interest to politicians, planners, economists and other professionals from all walks of life. Unfortunately, up until now, most of the studies done in Australia have been restricted to the nation as a whole rather than areas at the regional level. This thesis is intended to fill-at least partially - this long standing void and should be useful to anyone who is interested in the techniques of projecting the population below the national level. The thesis attempts to investigate the methodology of projecting the future population of Melbourne. It is divided into two volumes. Volume 1 contains the text of the research and the bibliography, and Volume 2 contains the relevant tabulations and appendices. There are six chapters in Volume 1. Chapter 1 sets out the aim, scope and structure of the thesis, and Chapter 2 presents a review of the past methodologies in projections. This . is then followed by an examination of the three aspects of population growth (i.e. births, deaths and migration) in Chapters 3 to -5. Each of these chapters could be considered as an independent study in itself. However, these parts are all related and are better understood in the context of the whole volume- than as separate entities. For the reader who is primarily interested in the results of the projections, the last chapter (Chapter 6) gives a summary of the assumptions, procedures and findings of the projections.
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ItemThe Cape Woolamai faunal reserve: a study of the physical geography and ecology as a basis for conservation management( [1969])This thesis is presented in the form of a report on a Reserve, similar to the kind prepared for National Nature Reserves in Britain as outlined by Ovington (1964) and Eggeling (1964), and is intended as a basis for the preparation of a Management Plan for the Cape Woolamai Faunal Reserve, Victoria. The thesis does not set out to solve any specific problem the aim is to present data which are relevant to the problem of how this Reserve should be managed. The Plan falls into three parts. The first section provides background information, the second, objectives, sets out the objects of management, the third, contains proposals for future management. Part 1 consists of seven chapters. Chapter 1, on general Information, describes the locality, size and main features of interest, and also traces the historical land-use leading to the establishment of the Reserve. Chapter 2 describes the climate and Chapters 3, 4 and 5, the physical geography with maps on the geology, geomorphology and soil. Chapter 6 describes the main vegetation formation and includes a preliminary floristic list. Chapter 7 on the Shorttailed Shearwater, Puffinus tenuirostris, traces the population history of the bird and includes a series of experiment on vegetation regeneration, breeding success and stability of breeding burrows. The distribution of Shearwater breeding colonies is mapped and the breeding bird population on the Reserve estimated. Part II consists of Chapter 8 which outlines the type of management and research desired, based on available information on the Reserve. Part III prescrlbes suitable management and research programmes for the Cape Woolamai Faunal Reserve.