The Hazelwood open-cut coal mine, just south of Morwell, was one of the largest open-cut mines in the world during its operational life — a crater-like excavation stretching several kilometres and reaching more than 100 metres below sea level. The mine closed in 2017 and is now being rehabilitated, but the sheer scale of what was carved out of the Latrobe Valley floor remains arresting from the public lookout on Brodribb Road.
From the viewing platform you can appreciate the industrial ambition and environmental cost of the brown coal era that powered Victoria for most of the 20th century. The adjacent Hazelwood Power Station, now also decommissioned, looms in the background. It is not a cheerful sight, but it is an honest one — the Latrobe Valley's wealth and its troubles both came out of this ground.