Rudd and Benaud urge drinkers 'to declare' - Australasian Leisure Management

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Rudd and Benaud urge drinkers ‘to declare’

December 28, 2009

Hospitality / Legal / Sport /

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has joined with cricketing legend Richie Benaud to urge Australians to know when "to declare" while drinking this summer.

Speaking on the Melbourne Cricket Ground before play on the second day of the Boxing Day Test, Prime Minister Rudd said Australia has a problem with binge drinking.

Addressing the 59,206 crowd on a perfect summer's day the Prime Minister called on the crowd to "know when to declare," adding "know when you have had enough, know when to say to your mates they have had enough."

Prime Minister Rudd launched a TV advertisement titled 'Know when to declare', which is a joint partnership between Cricket Australia, the Foster's Group, Diageo Australia and the Nine Network.

The 30-second TV community service announcement features Channel Nine cricket commentators Richie Benaud and Tony Greig. Another 15 second advertisement features cricketers Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson.

The launch came as after 91 people were ejected from the Boxing Day test match with 13 of them arrested for drunkenness.

Police also issued 28 penalty notices for drunk and anti-social behaviour, such as offensive language.

A police spokeswoman said the known trouble spots between bays 11 to 14 were the main target for police but she described the behaviour of the crowd, close to 60,000, as "pretty good".

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