March 16 (Bloomberg) -- With 48 cans of beer in the back and a bumper sticker that says ``Rum -- So Much More Than a Breakfast Food,'' Tom Dalfer headed to a remote Australian town last month with one purpose: to get as drunk as possible.

The mechanic made the 750-mile trip to Trundle (population 370), to attend a Bachelors-and-Spinsters ball -- a black-tie rite of passage for Australia's rural youth.

``This is my 44th B&S and I'm going to drink as much as I can before I fall over,'' said Dalfer, 23, who otherwise downs a couple of beers a week. ``I'm here to have a good time.''

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is cracking down on the binge drinking showcased at events such as the ball. Last week, he announced a A$53.5 million ($50 million) campaign to reform Australia's young binge drinkers, 168,000 of whom risk brain damage and liver disease each year. Alcohol costs Asia's fifth- biggest economy A$15.3 billion annually in workplace absenteeism and health care and accounts for 40 percent of all police work, according to the Canberra-based Alcohol and Other Drugs Foundation.

``Scaring the living daylights out of young people about the health impact of binge drinking in terms of brain damage might just do some good,'' Rudd, 50, told reporters in Canberra.

Rudd, the father of a teenage son, says he wants to smash Australia's ``drinking culture.'' He's pledged to cut funding to sports clubs that abuse alcohol, launch programs to promote responsible drinking among teenagers and pay for a A$20 million national advertising blitz.

National Exposure

The prime minister said he was not a ``saint'' when asked at the press conference last week about his own binge at the New York strip club Scores in 2003. Rudd, who was representing his country at the United Nations in 2003, said he couldn't remember going to Scores because he had had too much to drink.

Following Rudd's initiative, Australian football, cricket, rugby and netball clubs said they'd adopt codes of conduct to moderate drinking. The nation's sporting stars will also appear in advertising campaigns warning against drinking to excess.

``It's a problem for all of society and as sport touches a lot of Australians in one form or another, we want to be part of the solution,'' Australian Rugby Union Chief Executive Officer John O'Neill said after meeting Rudd in Canberra on March 14.

Drinking and stories about alcohol consumption have come to dominate youth culture in Australia.

Quokka Throwing

Former Wallabies rugby union player Scott Fava, 32, underwent counseling for binge drinking in November after he grabbed the tail of a quokka, a protected Australian animal, and threw it in the air during a football team bonding session.

Corey Worthington, a 16-year-old Melbourne resident with a preference for bug-eyed yellow sunglasses, gained cult hero status on Web sites the world over after throwing an all-night party that attracted hundreds of guests to his absent parent's suburban home. Police eventually called in a helicopter, dogs and the riot squad to stop the party.

``It's not the enjoyment, it's a question of how much you drink and what you drink that Australians see as heroic,'' said Geoff Munro, president of the Australian Drug Foundation in Melbourne.

The number of people reporting to Australian hospitals with liver disease directly linked to alcohol has doubled in the past four years, according to Paul Haber, head of alcohol studies at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

``More than 85 percent are people presenting to hospitals with some sort of alcohol-related cause,'' said David Templeman, chief executive of the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council. ``The biggest increase is for women and people aged 14 to 18.''

Alcohol is the nation's second-biggest preventable killer behind tobacco and accounts for 40 percent of all police work, the Canberra-based Alcohol and Other Drugs Foundation said. Australia ranked fifth behind Ireland, France, the United Kingdom and New Zealand for per capita consumption of alcohol, World Health Organization figures from 2005 show.

Getting Younger

Australian health authorities say drinkers are getting younger and women are abusing alcohol in record numbers. The legal drinking age in Australia is 18, compared with 21 in the U.S., 20 in Japan and 15 in Denmark.

Almost one in five Australians drink daily and 48 percent of males in 2005 said they binged at least once a week, according to a study from the Institute of Health and Welfare in Canberra. Binge drinking is defined as more than seven alcoholic drinks a day for men and more than five for women.

Back at the Bachelor and Spinster's balls, where a A$100 ticket buys all the rum, vodka or beer that attendees can drink, the prime minister's stance strikes a raw note with the 250 attendees, aged 18 to 24.

The gatherings, an institution in Australia, stretch back to the late 1900s when farmers used the balls to meet potential spouses and to raise money for charity.

Guests typically pitch tents in a community fairground the night before the ball, then drink and socialize before putting on black tie and taffeta for the official dance party.

``Rudd doesn't know what he's up against,'' says Ben Dalton, 20, as he squirts rum and Coke into his mouth from a hose and nozzle attached to a backpack. ``We can go feral, drink as much as we like and meet people before we sober up and drive home.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 15, 2008 19:45 EDT