Page 1625 - Week 08 - Thursday, 28 September 1989
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MR SPEAKER: Order! Please address your comments through the Chair.
MR STEVENSON: This is what happens in the situation. I mentioned yesterday that the head of the Canberra Medical Association stated that a major study in America showing the increase in the number of cancer deaths in places that are fluoridated compared with those in non-fluoridated places was attacked on the ground that it did not adjust for age, race and sex. That was proven to be not true in the three court cases I mentioned.
What happens? Once again, people who should have some ethical responsibility in this community are making statements that simply are not true in meetings of this Assembly. What is going on that the ADA and the AMA persist with such misinformation and statements which are not true, which have been shown to be not true and which they have admitted are not true? What is going on?
I recommended to Dr Bonanno of the Queanbeyan ADA that he come along and talk to me. This was days ago. I said I would welcome it. I urged him to ring up and make an appointment as I would love the opportunity. He did not take that opportunity and I think we well understand why from my talk. I look forward to the opportunity of having the matter finally presented truthfully.
MR MOORE (12.49): I will speak very briefly. I was horrified to hear the Minister for Housing and Urban Services present her opinion on big bins and indicate that the issue of recycling is not important. Perhaps that reflects on her attitude to the environment as indeed - - -
Mrs Grassby: I did not say it was not important.
MR MOORE: That is exactly what she said. She should refer back to Hansard. She then went on to talk about machinery that had been turned off not being able to be turned back on again. I hope that she will present the evidence of that to this Assembly because I believe that is the sort of statement that may be construed, in Minister Whalan's terms, as "mendacious".
Let me refer also to the Deputy Chief Minister, who presented some evidence from the Canberra Times editorial this morning. I think he could have pointed out that the report was, in a number of respects, incorrect and the editor's opinion was based on some misinformation about our mandate to follow and implement our policies. I have had a satisfactory discussion with the editor of the Canberra Times on this particular thing.
But let us go back to points of substance. All we have heard in this whole debate from the Labor Party is absolute froth and bubble. We have heard absolutely nothing. Labor members have come totally unarmed, and all five of them have spoken in terms of anecdotes, in terms of no evidence.
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