Alcohol in Australia many social and recreational situations, and its use is often encouraged. While drinking alcohol is often seen as intrinsic to Australian culture, the effects associated with over-consumption don't just affect the individual, but also the wider national community. In 2012, it was estimated that Australians spent $14.1 billion each year on alcohol. Heavy drinking in Australia was a cultural norm since colonisation. For a period, convicts in Australia were partially paid with rum. The distribution of rum amongst the New South Wales Corps led to the only successful armed takeover of an Australian government, which later became known as the
The Ascent of Rum Doodle has become one of the most famous and celebrated books of mountaineering literature. The book has been republished several times since 1956. The current edition is published by Pimlico, an imprint of Random House. It was included as one of the '1000 Novels Everyone Must Read' in the Guardian in January 2009. The narrator, "Binder" (his radio codename), is asked by the "Rum Doodle Committee" and its chairman, "Sir Hugeley Havering", to lead an expedition to climb "Rum Doodle", the highest mountain in the world (with an elevation of 40,000 and 1/2 feet), in the remote (fictional) country of "Yogistan".