The Hobart City Council is chasing State Government money to help fund major events next summer. The Taste food and wine festival in Hobart and the Falls music festival at Marion Bay are each seeking about $300,000 a year to help the events remain viable. Lord Mayor Damon Thomas says the Government does not contribute to the week-long Taste festival, which is held each year on Hobart’s waterfront. He says Hobart ratepayers should not have to foot the bill alone and he will be lobbying Government to contribute $1 million over the next three years, reports ABC News.

So you think you’ve got this drinking business licked. If you’re on a long-term fitness program, you also might be following the Australian government’s national guidelines for alcohol consumption: no more than two standard drinks a day for healthy men and women. While those basic rules may help judge the amount of alcohol you should be drinking during the festive season – from beer to spirits – the task for wine drinkers is far more difficult due to a confusing array of labelling anomalies allowed under Australian law, reports News.com.au.

Plans to develop coal mining in Australia’s Margaret River wine region have been rejected – but campaigners fear their fight is not yet over. Bill Marmion, Environment Minister for Western Australia, dismissed an application from LD Operations, acting on behalf of partners Vasse Coal and South West Coal, for the black coal operation. The announcement follows more than a year of campaigning from local groups, who feared the Vasse Coal project at a site 15km from Margaret River might threaten local water resources, reports Decanter.

It may be Coonawarra’s new kid on the block, but the Raidis Estate family winery is fast gaining a loyal following; and a swag of awards. Steven Raidis and fiancée Emma Graney run the winery along with Steven’s parents Chris and Fran. The family has lived and worked at Coonawarra for more than 40 years. Steven, 29, had always wanted to create his own wine label. After a couple of years playing football with the Glenelg Football Club in Adelaide, he returned to his hometown and began to give shape to his dreams, reports the Stock Journal.

Young binge drinkers have simply switched to cheaper booze to beat the Federal Government’s controversial “alcopop” tax. New research shows 15 to 29-year-olds have dodged the 70 per cent tax on popular pre-mixed drinks by changing their drink of choice. The University of Queensland study found no significant reduction in binge drinking-related hospital admissions since the tax was introduced in 2008. It has prompted fresh calls for a minimum price on alcohol. And it follows moves this week by the United Kingdom to crack down on cheap alcohol sales, reports News.com.au.