Victoria and South Australia are Australia's "rust belt" states. (Though to some extent this is true of NSW as well; most of the country's wealth is currently being generated out of the mineral riches of Western Australia and Queensland, which is worrying on a number of levels if you think beyond the short term.)

Once hubs of a range of secondary industry from textiles to automotive manufacture, changing markets, removal of protection and cheap overseas labour have seen not all, but many secondary industry plants around the country close down.

Those that survived have mostly relocated to outer areas of the cities where the land is cheaper. But just as it was in Sydney at the turn of last century, industry once thrived in inner Melbourne only a metaphorical stone's throw from the wide and fashionable retail boulevards of Collins and Bourke Streets. In this case, what is now an up market retail centre housing names like R M Williams (purveyor of outback gear for urbanites who never venture beyond the local park and have $380 to pay for a pair of shoes) was once occupied by Walter Coop Pty Ltd, lead and shot manufacturer. The building was originally built around 1880 and continued in production until around 1960. It was to have been demolished, but has been preserved as the centrepiece of the Melbourne Central shopping centre, under a large conical dome.

It also houses a museum, which unfortunately I haven't had the chance to visit yet.