Page 56 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 1991
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MR WOOD: I move:
That the Assembly authorises the publication of the report of the Standing Committee on Social Policy's inquiry into water fluoridation in the ACT and the extracts of the minutes of the Committee's proceedings.
I will just comment briefly that this has been broken into two parts today to give privilege to this document.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, I now move:
That the Assembly takes note of the report.
Sitting suspended from 5.24 to 8.00 pm
MR WOOD: Fluoride is a remarkable substance. It is certainly one of the better known substances around the world. One of its remarkable properties is that, beyond any doubt, its use in water and in other ways significantly reduces the rate of dental caries. I believe that there is no doubt of that. On its introduction in various parts of Australia some years ago, it had a remarkable impact on the dental health of our young people. It is the case that the impact is less in more recent years. Fluoride is not only responsible for a revolution in dental care. This remarkable substance is also deemed responsible for such things as the hole in the ozone layer, for the tranquillising and the weakening of whole populations, for narcosis, for hypnotic states, and for cancer. It is claimed to be responsible for every allergic response imaginable: For cot death, for AIDS, for schizophrenia, for sex crimes, and for nymphomania.
Mr Kaine and his colleagues in the Liberal Party may be interested to know that it was held responsible - not universally, I hasten to add - for the loss of Liberal seats in Victoria. It is also claimed that the depression and subsequent death of Harold Holt were caused by drinking the ACT fluoridated water supply. It is claimed to be responsible for constipation and so on. There is an endless list. It is also claimed to be responsible for skeletal fluorosis and, indeed, it is. It can be quite damaging to the human skeleton, except that I have nowhere seen any evidence of a case in Australia.
It is responsible for dental fluorosis, which causes mottling of teeth. There are cases of that in Australia. It can vary from something you cannot see to something that you are well aware of. I would be inclined to the view expressed by many that the effect is more cosmetic than anything else. This remarkable substance called fluoride is also responsible, as our committee knows, for some of the most virulent and strongly fought arguments that can be found. It is responsible for claims of cover-up,
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