But Only Wryly So

Amusing that the governments that would ban alcohol advertising in sport have no problems letting pubs stay open all night long.

Hilarious that even The Greens see the hypocrisy:

"The hotels industry donated $1.7 million to the government and over $1 million to the coalition between 2003-2007. Of this $2.7 million, $1.8 million came directly from the hotels lobby group, the Australian Hotels Association (AHA). Clubs donated $382,850 to the government and $461,864 to the coalition between 2003-2007. Of this $844,714, $512,692 came from the clubs lobby group, Clubs NSW. Hotels and the Australian Hotels Association (AHA) are now the fourth biggest donor to the major parties, after developers, unions and the finance industry."

-- Nick

UPDATE: Drug Arm Centre of Addiction director Caroline Salom gets where alcohol problems are coming from and it's not VB sponsoring the footy:

(She) said drugs were an issue but alcohol abuse was much more widespread and drinkers were getting younger. "Where it used to be about 14 or 15, we're now looking at 12 or 13 where young people first start to drink," she said.

Ms Salom said the main reason was the emergence of a definitive adolescence.

"From a sociological point of view, we've created this adolescence period which didn't exist 100 years ago," she said.

"These young people have become more pressured over the last couple of decades to model adult behaviour, and that includes drinking and drugs.

"But they don't have the expectations of adulthood like responsible behaviour, so for them, they don't just have to drink, they have to get drunk." (Emphasis added)