Alfred Vernon Galbraith

[4] Although revenue from timber sales declined during the Great Depression, Galbraith channelled substantial government funds for unemployment relief works which were well suited to unskilled manual labour such as firebreak slashing, silvicultural thinning, weed spraying and rabbit control.

[5] Galbraith worked two prominent Melbourne businessmen and philanthropists, Herbert Robinson Brookes and George Richard Nicholas (of Aspro fame) to established the unique and enterprising “Boys Camp” at Noojee to provide particular employment and training opportunities for young people.

[6] Under the leadership of Galbraith, the trajectory of the Forests Commission from its inception in 1918 until the beginning of the Second World War was one of periodic political conflict, varying budgets but almost continuous organisational expansion and relative autonomy.

[5] The Black Friday bushfires on 13 January 1939 where nearly 2 million hectares burnt, 69 sawmills were destroyed, 71 people died and several towns were entirely obliterated became a landmark in the history of the State of Victoria and a major turning point in the story of the Forests Commission.

The Stretton Royal Commission has been called one of the most significant inquiries in the history of Victorian public administration and its recommendations led to sweeping changes and increases in funding and responsibilities.

[7] This operation was made more difficult due to manpower shortages during the war years combined with many FCV staff volunteering for military service with the 2/2 Forestry Company, AIF.

Under Galbraith's Chairmanship, the Commission and Australian Paper Manufacturers Ltd (APM) reached an agreement which gave certain pulpwood rights to the company for fifty years over an area of about 200,000 ha of State forest.

[8] After the end of World War Two in 1945, Australia experienced a prolonged housing boom and a civil rehabilitation period and Galbraith increased the Commissions intake of graduates at the Victorian School of Forestry (VSF) to meet the demands on Victoria's forest resources.

This work was prior to the ground breaking research into mountain ash done in mid-1950s by the world renowned Dr David Hungerford Ashton[13] from the botany school at the University of Melbourne.

[14] Undoubtedly, the main social and economic beneficiaries of Galbraith’s’ Grand Design were small rural settlements like Heyfield, Mansfield, Myrtleford, Bruthen, Orbost, Cann River, Colac, Alexandra and Swifts Creek which grew into thriving communities based upon the timber industry.