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
History of Australia (1788–1850) turbulent element: in 1808 he was one of the leaders of the Rum Rebellion against the governor, William Bligh. From about 1815 the colony, under the governorship of Lachlan Macquarie, began to grow rapidly as free settlers arrived and new lands were opened up for farming. Despite the long and arduous sea voyage, settlers were attracted by the prospect of making a new life on virtually free Crown land. From the late 1820s settlement was only authorised in the limits of location, known as the Nineteen Counties. Many settlers occupied land without authority and beyond these authorised settlement limits: they