Before there was Dry July, there were these dumb ideas

July 4, 2026 — 3:00am

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Australia is responsible for some of the world’s dumbest ideas when it comes to the consumption of alcohol.

In honour of Dry July – and its annual campaign to support people dealing with cancer – here are just some of them.

The use of rum as a form of currency. I know coins were in short supply in the early days of the British colony, but was it really a good idea to use rum as a means of transacting business? For a start, how do you stop people drinking their change? There was also a problem for bartenders, as in the oft-heard conversation: “I’ll have a quart of rum, please.” “Sure, that will cost you a quart of rum.” No wonder the locals staged the Rum Rebellion, after which the colony shifted to a new system of exchange, based around cans of UDL pre-mix.

The shout. Fair enough, it’s a convivial idea when two friends are meeting for a drink. You buy the first round and then I’ll buy the second. It’s less helpful when it’s a group of 12. Either some people exit the “shout” halfway through, earning themselves a lifetime of opprobrium and social exclusion, or everyone sticks to the rules, leading to an........

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