The National Archives have put up an interesting story on the rise and fall of King O’Malley’s alcohol prohibition in the ACT.
While there was significant interest from temperance organisations across the country in keeping the nation’s capital dry, the prohibition of alcohol licensing ended in 1928. There were several reasons for the end of the ‘dry’ capital. One was allegations that Federal Capital Commission workers were drinking excessively in Queanbeyan and conducting themselves in an ‘unseemly’ manner. It appears that most men, having come a fair way to drink, decided to make a real go of it rather than keeping to a few social drinks.
But go on, read the whole piece.
I have my suspicions Canberra’s formative reputation as a terrible town to visit come from the days of prohibition.
[Photo: The first consignment of liquor arrives in the Federal Capital Territory, in November 1928, following the lifting of prohibition. Unloading the railway truck load of beer cases are bar workers from the Hotel Canberra in Ainslie. NAA: A3560, 4928]
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