ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the history of drinking and leisure as they relate specifically to society and culture in Sydney, with a focus on the relationship between alcohol and disorder as it has occurred throughout Sydney’s history from its colonial origins up until the emergence of the NTE concept in the 1990s. It also examines the contribution that alcohol has made towards the state economy of NSW and the moral ambivalence that has, until recently, both endorsed heavy collective drinking and associated disorder as part of an accepted ‘way of life’ and rejected it as a stain on the moral fabric of society.
