PM Kevin Rudd wants Drinking Age Lifted to 21

News.com.au reported this morning that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd would like to see the legal drinking age lifted to 21. But there would have to be rigorous debate and evidence that the policy could reduce binge drinking before the Government would consider it, he said.

Call to ban alcohol advertising

The Courier Mail reported today that Kevin Rudd’s handpicked preventative taskforce has recommended a radical blueprint that would strip sporting codes of up to $300 million a year in alcohol sponsorship as well as an end to alcohol advertising on the internet and in youth magazines.
According to the Courier Mail Cricket Australian, the AFL, the [...]

Alcohol and Tobacco Escape Government Tax Hikes

Swan’s budget leaves Australia’s vices alone while alcopop war still wages…

Yesterday, Treasurer Wayne Swan unveiled a budget that sets Australia up for a decade of debt, with a fiscal deficit of $32.9 billion this year, rising to $53.1 billion over 2009 - ‘10. Despite the horror figures, alcohol and tobacco excises have avoided any increase in this the second of the Rudd Government’s budgets.