Page 2544 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 1991
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The fluoride question has attracted considerable comment from the public and the local academic community. It has been widely debated and I am sure that the debate is not finished yet. While there will continue to be claims and counterclaims regarding the efficacy of fluoride addition to public water supplies, the Government's first priority must be the protection of public health. The peak public body for scientific research in Australia, the National Health and Medical Research Council, has now made several studies and each has given continuing support to the view that it is desirable to add fluoride to domestic water supplies, in recommended quantities, to protect and enhance the development of children's teeth and to maintain that protection to adulthood.
In presenting these Bills to the Assembly, Mr Speaker, the Government supports this view, accepts that fluoride addition to public water supplies is a most cost-effective measure to achieve such protection, and endorses other recommendations on the use of fluoride supplementation in toothpaste. I now table the Government's response to the report on the inquiry into water fluoridation in the ACT conducted by the Standing Committee on Social Policy and I present the explanatory memorandum for the Bill.
Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries) adjourned.
WATER SUPPLY (CHEMICAL TREATMENT) (REPEAL) BILL 1991
MR BERRY (Minister for Health and Minister for Sport) (3.58): Mr Speaker, I present the Water Supply (Chemical Treatment) (Repeal) Bill 1991. I move:
That this Bill be agreed to in principle.
Mr Speaker, as mentioned in the presentation of the Electricity and Water (Amendment) Bill 1991, this second Bill is to repeal a series of Acts - the Water Supply (Chemical Treatment) Act 1989, the Water Supply (Chemical Treatment) (Amendment) Act 1990 and the Water Supply (Chemical Treatment) (Amendment) Act 1991. These Acts provided for the suspension of the operation of Part VIIIA of the Electricity and Water Act, and extensions of the time limit by which the suspension would terminate.
The Acts allowed fluoride to be returned to the water supply on a temporary basis pending receipt of reports from the Standing Committee on Social Policy and the National Health and Medical Research Council. With the amendments proposed to the parent Act, there will be no further requirement to suspend the implementation of Part VIIIA of that Act. I now present the explanatory memorandum for the Bill.
Debate (on motion by Mr Humphries) adjourned.
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