Page 566 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 1991
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issues to do with mass medication have also arisen, and it is now up to all of us to consider carefully this and other issues brought up by the report.
The fluoride issue, of course, still raises points of contention; thus the report compiled by the Standing Committee on Social Policy, which incorporates the findings of the NHMRC report on fluoride, deserves our full attention. I recognise that there are some areas on which our committee has taken a very responsible stand, without merely aping that report. By closely examining this issue members of the Assembly can help to avoid any repetition of the situation that occurred in 1989 where, as we all remember, fluoride was removed from the ACT water supply and then re-added approximately three weeks later.
It is obviously well known that there are differences of opinion in this house about the level of fluoride that should or should not be included; but, by allowing full consideration of the report's implications and recommendations, members of the house will be able to weigh these factors and arrive at an informed decision.
MR STEVENSON (11.50): The Water Supply (Chemical Treatment) (Amendment) Bill 1991 is a major problem. The committee, after 14 months of long hours reading information on fluoridation, recommended that the level of sodium silico-fluoride added to the water supply of Canberrans should be reduced by half - to 0.5 as against one part per million. This Bill proposes that the matter under discussion - the Government response and the right of every member in the Assembly to have a say on that report - be put off until 31 August.
Mr Humphries: That is rubbish. You can do it any time you want.
MR STEVENSON: Indeed. If we were going to do it reasonably we would change the date, and I intend to move an amendment to achieve just that. The suggestion is that it does not put off debate. If that is so, why select a date at the end of August? That is heading towards the end of the year; it is six months away. The Government response to this report will not take six months. We have already seen that the Health Minister, Gary Humphries, can read the minor report in just a few days; granted, he still has the major report to read.
Mr Duby: He has read the major report.
MR STEVENSON: No, he has read the minor report. He still has the major 177-page report to read. So we see that it needs some time; I totally grant you that. Any suggestion that it should have been voted on this week was not okay. It should not have been voted on this week. These matters should allow time for community consultation. They should allow time for all members of this Assembly and their staff, who go through these things, to read the Bill in
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