The Heytesbury Settlement Scheme was a

soldier settlement Soldier settlement was the settlement of land throughout parts of Australia by returning discharged soldiers under soldier settlement schemes administered by state governments after World War I and World War II. The post-World War II settlemen ...

scheme established in the Western District of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, Australia after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The scheme involved the clearing of the Heytesbury Forest south of

Colac, Victoria Colac is a small city in the Western District of Victoria, Australia, approximately 150 kilometres south-west of Melbourne on the southern shore of Lake Colac. History For thousands of years clans of the Gulidjan people occupied the region o ...

and adjacent to the

Otway Ranges The Great Otway National Park is a national park located in the Barwon South West region of Victoria, Australia. The national park is situated approximately southwest of Melbourne, in the Otway Ranges, a low coastal mountain range. It conta ...

to allow for the establishment of a dairy industry in the area. Established in 1960 by the

Victorian Government The Victoria State Government, also referred to as just the Victorian Government, is the state-level authority for Victoria, Australia. Like all state governments, it is formed by three independent branches: the executive, the judicial, and th ...

led by Premier

Henry Bolte Sir Henry Edward Bolte GCMG (20 May 1908 – 4 January 1990) was an Australian politician who served as the 38th Premier of Victoria. To date he is the longest-serving Victorian premier, having been in office for over 17 consecutive years. E ...

, some early problems saw the scheme dismissed as "Bolte's Blunder". In time the area became one of Australia's most productive dairy regions. The scheme was one of the last large scale land settlement schemes in Victoria. The town of

Simpson Simpson most often refers to: * Simpson (name), a British surname *''The Simpsons'', an animated American sitcom **The Simpson family, central characters of the series ''The Simpsons'' Simpson may also refer to: Organizations Schools *Simpso ...

—named for

Les Simpson Hugh Leslie Simpson CBE (3 October 1894 – 7 June 1968) was an Australian farmer and soldier-settlement administrator. Simpson was born at Birchip in Victoria to bookseller Albert Edward Simpson and Ellen, ''née'' Campbell. He attended loc ...

, the first chair of the Soldier Settlement Commission—was established as part of the scheme.

External links

From blunder to bonanza, what a difference 50 years makesAn Interim Report on the Land in the Heytesbury Settlement Scheme
(1977) Australian soldier settlements Agriculture in Victoria (Australia) 1960 establishments in Australia {{VictoriaAU-geo-stub