Teens more accepting of alcohol: survey
11/5/08
Many more underage Australians believe it is acceptable to drink alcohol on a regular basis today than they did 16 years ago, according to a national survey. The Dolly Youth Monitor, which has surveyed thousands of teenagers between the age of 10 to 17 since 1992, found there has been a sharp increase in the numbers that approve of alcohol use. The latest edition of the bi-annual survey found that 80 per cent believed regular drinking was acceptable, while back in 1992 only 64 per cent thought so.
See: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=560960&rss=yes
Pop goes the alco-tax as they weasel out of it
Julian Lee; 12/5/08
Opportunistic alcohol manufacturers are free to sell alcopops made from malt or low-grade wine as cheaper alternatives to ready-to-drink spirits because of a loophole in the law. While the drinks are not yet available in Australia, some alcohol retailers and manufacturers expect that cheap drinks made using alcohol derived from beer and wine - which are less heavily taxed than spirits - will be sold in bars and bottle shops. Sales of alcopops and other premixed spirits drinks are predicted to fall by 7 to 10 per cent after the Federal Government’s surprise decision three weeks ago to increase taxes on them by 70 per cent.
See: http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pop-goes-the-alcotax-as-they-weasel-out-of-it/2008/05/11/1210444244257.html