Obscure Box

Police in Alice Springs were understandably "shocked and appalled" after they pulled over a driver who'd fastened a seatbelt around his slab of beer and NOT his five-year-old boy.

In the Northern Territory News story "Beer strapped in, not boy " (Wednesday 14 May 2008) Constable Wayne Burnett says: "This is the first time that beer has taken priority over a child."

What was the driver thinking?

Sure enough it's one of those crazy Australian stories that gets reported overseas and has already made it to the BBC in "Aussie straps in beer, not child" (Tuesday 13 May 2008) and a couple of hundred other news websites.

Just the image Australia needs to project as the world grapples with binge drinking.

Thanks, mate.