Page 1828 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 18 October 1989
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So there you have it. We were courageous. We were courageous the other day. A decision was taken - a courageous decision, because we had the situation where, as I have said before, it is incumbent on a new government to overturn the incorrect decisions taken by a previous government as quickly as practicable. We did that, and now you are going to pieces. You can no longer stand up and face this community with pride.
I go to Dr Kinloch's statements. He mentioned dental health, general health, pollution and so on; he covered a broad range of aspects. But of course we have dental health. No-one is saying that fluoride does not affect teeth or dental caries. Of course it does. It is a very reactive antibacterial agent. There are a number of them. We could use arsenic. We could use a number of others. Of course they affect the bacteria in the mouth and therefore will have an effect on dental caries. No-one denies that. However, do we need to drink it? The point is, we can have it in the toothpaste, and therein lies the tale.
I will put to you the pollution aspect. Here is the Labor Government making statements on how it is for the green vote. I measured the pollution coming from the tailings - the outflow from the lower Molonglo water treatment plant - the day before the fluoride was switched off. I sent that water to a Melbourne firm for analysis and, would you believe, the fluoride in the water discharging from the lower Molonglo system is one part per million? If you had looked at the flow on that day, as I did, you would have found the natural flow in the Murrumbidgee was about equivalent to the water flow coming out from our plant, one part per million. Can you tell me what that does to the fish, the wildlife, et cetera, downstream? It is a cumulative toxin. It goes into the mud. It binds with the mud, et cetera. So there is the situation where we are now responsible for pollution. We could blame the Feds before. For 25 years we could blame others. But now, if this goes ahead, we, the Assembly, will take the blame.
Social justice is another issue. Will this Assembly, will Mr Kaine, recommend to the Government to supply to those members of our community who do not want fluoride in their water non-fluoridated water or the means to remove fluoride from the water? Can he now offer this to the 50 per cent or more of the community who do not want fluoride in the water? Where is your offer to them? This is social justice. The poor and disadvantaged cannot afford to purchase purifiers for themselves. Dr Kinloch also made a statement on the safe level of fluoride, reducing it to half, et cetera. There is no safe level for a cumulative toxin. I do not care whether it is 0.00001 parts per million; it is cumulative, and therefore there is no safe level.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Mr Prowse, would you resume your seat, please, for a moment. There is a little
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