They are not a nation of snobs like the English or of extravagant boasters like the Americans or of reckless profligates like the French, they are simply a nation of drunkards. Marcus

Drinking etiquette

Test of character

"They are not a nation of snobs like the English or of extravagant boasters like the Americans or of reckless profligates like the French, they are simply a nation of drunkards. " Marcus Clark (1)

Australia used to be one of the world's great drinking nations. It is believed that during the Convict era, when rum was used as currency, the colony's inhabitants drank more alcohol per capita that any other time in human history. The high rate of consumption was understandable considering that the first fleet brought enough food for two years and enough grog for four.

Perhaps realising the dangers of a lone man drinking themselves into oblivion, it became poor form to drink by oneself. As one observer wrote in 1887:

" All through Australia, in every class, it is not considered good form for a man to drink by himself. Very few even of the most hopeless drunkards ever do so. The consequence is, that when a man feels inclined to drink, he immediately looks out for someone to drink with...At whatever hour of the day a mans meets another whom he has not seen for say twelve hours, etiquette requires that he shall incontinently invite him to come and drink. This is a custom that pervades every class in the colony, and cannot be departed from without something more than a breach of good manners." Finch Hatton 1887

Obviously, a society descended from criminals, dubious police officers, corrupt officials and cockney immigrants was going to have a fair share of sly characters looking out for their own self interest. Social alcohol consumption, or "shouting" probably became a type of character test. The shout is a pretence of a gift, but in reality, it is more of a loan. If an individual has a drink bought for them, and fails to reciprocate, it reveals a dodgy character looking out for themselves. (*see shouting etiquette below.)

Wowsers have often been unable to appreciate the social side of the shout. As one wowser complained in 1887:

"Shouting", or rather its meaning, is peculiarly Australian. The shortest and most comprehensive definition of "shouting" is to pay for the drink drunk by others. Drunkenness is the vice of which "shouting" is a parasite. No other Australian vice has so large a vocabulary. "

Ironically, the practice of shouting probably contributed to Australia not developing the hard liquor drinking cultures that prevail in Russia, South America and East Asia that leads to extreme drunkardness and death! Generally speaking, Australians are more prone to drink wine and beer, as well as have conversations while drinking. Shouting encourages conversation because it increases the likelihood of one person slowing down drinking out of concern for money being spent or because they want to chat about something. As long as one person has a desire to slow down, the rate of the entire shouting group can be slowed. All they need to do is suggest beer instead of a spirit or keep the conversation flowing. On the other hand, in Asia, businessmen or university professors will just down one spirit after the next as they try to impress each other by showing they are strong drinkers. Because the drinks may be paid for by the boss or the richest member of the party, there isn’t that concern about slowing down the rate of drinking to save money. Furthermore, because conversation is less important, drinking becomes the sole focus on the night out.

Aside from encouraging conversation, the shout encourages beer as the favoured drink because it is drunk relatively slowly, doesn’t have an instant impact and is quite easy to moderate. Encouraging the consumption of beer of other alternatives probably also helped reduce alcoholism because beer is quite difficult to get drunk on; drinkers tend to get bloated long before getting into the danger zone of blacking out.

As well as having an important social role in the lives of ordinary Australians, alcohol has also have an important role amongst politicians. Prior to Federation in 1900, a great deal of politicising was underway in regards to who would be the Australia's first Prime Minister. It is no coincidence that the candidate that emerged was an alcoholic. Affectionately known as " Toby Tosspot " due to his fondness for a drink, Edmond Barton's qualifications for the job were noted by his biographer who wrote:

"A public man who shouldered these responsibilities needed an ample appetite and a good capacity for alcohol. Barton was able to do justice to all these forms of hospitality".

Just as the man who first led a federated Australia was an alcoholic, it is also quite fitting that Bob Hawke, the Prime Minister who changed Australia's national anthem from God save the Queen, was also renowned for his fondness for grog. So renowned in fact that he was immortalised in the Guinness Book of Records for sculling 2.5 pints of beer in 11 seconds.

Australia's love affair with alcohol endured right up to the 70s when its per capita beer consumption was up with the great boozing nations of Ireland and Germany. Since then, alcohol consumption has been diminishing and now Australia is a teetotaller by world standards. It is generally believed that alcohol consumption dropped as a result of increased taxes making drinking less affordable. The main problem with the theory is that the general trend has been towards more expensive alcohol, which would suggest shortage of funds has not been the sole consideration. Basically, Australians are buying more boutique beers than in the 70s and are also buying much more high-priced wine. Quality is now more important than quantity.

Even though Australians are drinking far less than in the past, there is a lionising of alcohol consumption that perhaps isn't seen in other countries. Furthermore, alcohol still plays a very important role in the social fabric of Australian society. University students often discuss their ideas at the pub after lectures. Boozing is often part of post-match celebrations of football teams. Most importantly, the shout is still the mainstay of the Australian pub. It is a custom that allows an outsider to be inducted into the social group and treated as if they are of equal status - irrespective of their socio-economic, political or national background. This social aspect of shouting ensures will probably ensure that alcohol remains part of Australian life, but also that consumption is somewhat restrained by world standards. This may ensure a continuation of alcohol consumption being celebrated despite the fact that relatively little alcohol is actually being consumed.

While alcoholism is a relatively rare feature of Australian life, many Aboriginal communities still suffer severe alcohol problems. These problems can be directly attributed to wowsers wanting to ban alcohol in Australia, but only succeeding in having it banned for Aborigines. Obviously politicians weren’t keen on a complete ban because that would mean they would have to go without a drink as well, but banning whites from selling to blacks seemed like a noble way to spare Aborigines the vices of white society, and win a few votes in the process.

Although the ban allowed wowsers to feel that they were helping Aborigines, it forced Aboriginal drinking underground. Instead of drinking in a pub where the custom of the round could slow drinking out of financial or social considerations, Aborigines would get their hands on cheap booze and head to a park or some isolated place to drink it. Here young children could access booze that they couldn’t get in the pub, and individuals could drink until they passed out. Worst of all, drinking in the park lacked the protection of the kind of security seen in the pub so if one drunk became violent, it was easy for the violence to spread.

Being forced to buy illegally also might have encouraged Aborigines to buy booze that gave them the maximum bang for their buck and which was easiest to carry. This tended to be spirits. Unfortunately, spirits tend to wreck much more havoc than beer, which moderates drinking by bloating the drinker.

When the sale of alcohol to Aborigines eventually became legal, separatism was a continuing legacy of the past ban. The above photos show white and black Australians drinking on opposite sides of the street. Aborigines bought alcohol out of a window at the back of the bar called the “dog box”, a process of buying that originated when selling booze to Aborigines was illegal.

Because the ban caused the cultures of alcohol consumption to develop in different ways, it was not always easy to reconcile them in the front of the bar when the supply of alcohol to Aborigines became legal. Aside from encouraging seperatism, another legacy of the ban was the choice of alcohol. Aborigines often gravitated towards cask wine or spirits because these were easiest to carry and offered maximum bang for the buck. Non-Aborigines went for the beers commonly bought in a shout.

The etiquette of a round (shout)

"In tribal societies in which gift giving is economically important, there may be exchange of gift giving of identical (or useless) gifts which serve to maintain the relationship between donors. In Australia, the ritual of the round, known virtually to all adult members of society has some parrallel functions. It symbolise entry to a group (and, for that matter, makes pointed an exclusion). It binds a group together." National Times January 1978

· Immediacy - Never accept a beer if you do not intend to shout on that evening. Shouting "next time" is not acceptable no matter how much interest is involved.

· Reciprocal - Even worse than the previous rule is accepting beers from the drinking party and then just buying one for yourself when it is your turn.

· Consistency - Changing drinks on people during a shout is considered poor form. I.e., shouting everyone VBs then asking for a "boutique" beer on the return leg.

· Accountability - Knocking over someone else's beer will only be tolerated if there is a full replacement on the table. In some mining communities, the spilling of ones beer requires the guilty party to receive a punch in the arm from all other members of the party which could be up to 60 people.

· Egalitarian - No matter how much money is earned by each of the party members, or where their money came from, the same shouting rules apply.

· Free will - The order of the round is determined by each individual volunteering that it is his/her shout. Fellow members should not never have to remind an individual of their obligations to the group. They will only do so in the event of a breach.

· Abstaining - From time to time an individual may wish to stop getting drunk. Ideally, they should wait till the completion of every group member's rounds before abstaining from future rounds. If it is essential that they abstain mid-round, they should request a non-alcoholic beverage. This ensures that the first volunteer is not punished for putting their hand up first. It ensures group equality and it also ensures that the person buying the next round does not feel like a bludger by being remiss in their obligations.

· Gender neutral- Should a women be given a drink that has been purchased in the course of buying a round, she is subsequently part of the round. All the previous rules thus apply. A round can consist of only two people.

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