News Archive

Director-general of health Audrey Sonerson is now considering an already-notified second tranche of fluoridation directives with water services sector reform and local government service delivery pressures. The potential expansion comes as Far North District Council continues not to comply with the June 2022 directive from then director-general of health Dr Diana Sarfati to fluoridate its […]

Anti-fluoride campaigners are claiming another victory as the United States administration takes an increasingly negative view of the use of the chemical. The latest move has seen US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy announcing plans to tell the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to stop recommending fluoridation. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and the Covid vaccine […]

Council will comply with the Director General of Health’s directive to fluoridate Rotorua city’s central and eastern water supplies with fluoridation to start on Friday, 28 March. Unfluoridated water will be available to residents who want it at Caledonia Street, Ngongotah?, where there is a tap located on the road berm between Dawson Drive and […]

In her 24-page judgment, Justice Grau said the council’s refusal to fluoridate meant it had “demonstrated a concerning public disregard for the legal obligations of a local authority” for four months. Whang?rei District Council had challenged the Director-General of Health and Attorney-General in the High Court, seeking interim orders that would prevent the Director-General taking […]

Whang?rei District Council’s only hope of stalling the start-up of fluoridating its drinking water supply tomorrow has been dashed. The council took its fight against a fluoridation directive to the High Court in Wellington today. Justice Karen Grau reserved her decision on granting interim relief to Whang?rei District Council. The Whang?rei District Council needs to […]

A Northland council fighting orders to add fluoride to its water supply for the past five months has bowed to government pressure – but councillors also voted to stop fluoridation immediately if a legal challenge goes their way on Tuesday. Whang?rei District councillors met in front of a packed public gallery on Monday afternoon in […]

A minor leak has been identified in a fluoride tank at Tauranga City Council’s Wai?ri Water Treatment Plant, which requires repair.From this week, Tauranga City Council said it will cease fluoride dosing at the Wai?ri Water Treatment Plant for approximately six weeks while the tank is taken offline to be emptied, cleaned, repaired, tested and […]

Whang?rei councillors are meeting in secret today to discuss the legal risks of refusing to fluoridate the city’s water. Whang?rei councillors are meeting in secret today to discuss the legal risks of refusing to fluoridate the city’s water. The council has defied the government’s directive, risking a $5 million fine. NZ Dental Association president Amanda […]

New Zealand Dental Association president Amanda Johnston – a practising dentist in Whang?rei – said the council’s hesitance to fluoridate was frustrating, given its proven health benefits. “There’s really clear evidence that adding fluoride to the water is really beneficial to the teeth across all age groups, so we just wish they’d get on with […]

Fluoridation has for months drawn the biggest sustained public gallery turnouts since the council moved into its civic centre Te Iwitahi in 2023. Up to 100 people have attended every public council meeting where fluoridation has been discussed, since Whang?rei District Council decided not to fluoridate on November 28. The council posted the Tuesday meeting […]