Page 1829 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 18 October 1989
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too much noise in relation to the debate going on. There is one speaker on his feet. Mr Wood and Mrs Grassby, I would appreciate it if you would allow Mr Prowse to continue untroubled.
MR PROWSE: Dr Kinloch has referred to the difficult technical matters associated with fluoridation. That is hype. The technicalities do not need to be understood. Are you telling me that the Minister for Urban Services has to know how to drive a bulldozer? Do you tell me that the Minister for Health has to be able to carry out brain surgery? The point is that there is no difficulty in understanding freedom of choice. There is no difficulty in understanding that some people react adversely to all sorts of substances, and fluoride is one of them. There is no difficulty in that. You do not need to consult experts on those issues. They are obvious. You have to stand up as leaders in this community and take decisions. That is what this is all about. It is about leadership.
Unfortunately, I see across the floor from me at the moment a group of people who are not prepared to take decisions. They have to send everything to a committee in case somebody blames them for taking a decision that they do not like. And, of course, we have seen the Liberal leader now give in to this pressure. He looked good for a while but, as soon as the pressure was applied, he dropped the ball. Minister Grassby made statements that a committee of inquiry should be held and that those voting as they did the other day were opposed to this committee of inquiry. That is not so. We have always said that a committee of inquiry needs to be set up.
We have also said that a referendum to judge the people's desires on the issue needs to be held. So anybody who stands on the floor of this chamber and says that we did not welcome a committee obviously was not listening. Maybe they were not here on that day either.
Mr Duby has made the statement that the NHMRC was involved in this issue. It is an august body. The members are specialists. There are some wonderful, clever, scientific brains within that body. However, I challenge the dental lobby because they are pro-fluoridists. They find it very difficult to be objective because they have been pushing the pro-fluoride articles and ideas for 25 years. Now, if Mr Wood thinks he has difficulty, how much difficulty do you think they have in being objective?
I just might make another comment too. Mr Duby was putting the notion that it was a six months' delay. It is an eight months' delay that has been asked for. I also make an observation on the cost of fluoride tablets. Minister Berry made a statement to this house on the cost of fluoride tablets. There was a gross exaggeration in that statement that he made. I have contacted the Albert Shire Council and the City Council of the Gold Coast of Queensland where the population tallies 260,000. They give
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