Mount Gambier’s longstanding campaign against the fluoridation of the Blue Lake’s water supply has been boosted with promises of a parliamentary inquiry and yet another street protest.
Legislative Council member Ann Bressington has vowed to call for an inquiry into SA Water’s apparent refusal to release water purity certificates which contain information on the products used to artificially fluoridate South Australian public water supplies.
Choice Mount Gambier leader Alex Young had previously called on Dr David Cunliffe of SA Health to publicly release the documents, but was referred to SA Water, which refused the release.
After attending a meeting on fluoridation in Mount Gambier on Tuesday evening, Ms Bressington told The Border Watch she intended to call for an inquiry by the end of next month.
She said a national working party would be established and research conducted into the matter.
“Why aren’t they releasing the information in those documents? These are public documents,” she said.
“If the documents are not provided, it would be in contempt of parliament.”
Mr Bressington said she also planned another street protest for Mount Gambier, which she would lead with a megaphone in hand.
“We also want to know what happened to the public meeting Dr Cunliffe promised during a radio interview and which was to be held in Mount Gambier before fluoridation goes online,” she said.
“The fluoridation plant is expected to be switched on by the end of this month, so when is this meeting going to be held?”
With eight years of research into the health effects of water fluoridation, Ms Bressington said she was convinced enough proof existed that fluoride is a dangerous chemical.
“It is a waste product, a neuro-toxin, that governments dump into our water because they are not allowed to dump it anywhere else?—?and there’s enough proof for that,” she said.
Ms Bressington said although the fluoridation of Mount Gambier’s water supply will happen soon, it was not too late to fight.
“We may have lost the battle, but not the war,” she said.
“Let them spend millions on the construction of the plant. It can be reversed easily; it’s a matter of flicking off a switch.”
Warrnambool Councillor Peter Hulin, accompanied by the Warrnambool Fluoride Action Group convener Peter Sycopoulis, also attended Tuesday night’s fluoride meeting with Ms Bressington.
They spoke about the frustrations of Warrnambool residents in 2008 when their protests against water fluoridation were ignored by the Victorian government.
Mr Hulin said about 800 residents attended a public protest meeting and although 40 government officials and people in support of fluoridation were invited, none of them turned up.
“There will come a day when people will want to ask the government where their health problems came from,” he said.
“We are talking about a waste product here which can’t be put into the ground, but that is put into our drinking water.”
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