News Archive

DENTISTS fear North Queensland children will continue to face unnecessary health concerns after another council voted to stop adding fluoride to its water supply. Hinchinbrook Shire Council this week voted to stop fluoridation after first introducing it in 2013, joining a growing list of councils opting out of the practice. James Cook University director of […]

Rural councils are unhappy about a Bill putting district health boards in charge of fluoridation, as the additive could mean big costs for rural schemes with only a few connections. In its submission on the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill, Waimate Mayor Craig Rowley says the district’s rural water schemes are already ”struggling” […]

A group marched through Nelson’s main street to support keeping the city’s water fluoride-free, requesting filters and water-rate rebates if fluoride is added. More than 60 anti-fluoride protesters took a letter from the Church Steps to the Nelson City Council offices. The protest on Wednesday addressed their views in a letter presented on World Water Day. The letter addressed to mayor Rachel Reese and […]

The health select committee is considering the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill, which would move the decision about whether water should be fluoridated from local councils to district health boards. It has sparked vigorous debate between anti-fluoride campaigners and others. Today, the clinical director of oral health services at the Hawke’s Bay District […]

People opposed to fluoridation will hold a demonstration outside Parliament on Wednesday 22nd March, starting at 1pm, after the oral presentations to the Health Select Committee. The Select Committee received over 1,200 written submissions, of which over 90% were opposed to the Bill and stated they were opposed to fluoridation. The Bill, which looks to […]

One of Rotorua’s staunch anti-fluoride activists has had his concerns heard about adding the chemical to the district’s water supply. Rotorua district councillor and anti-fluoride activist Charles Sturt had his submission heard by the health select committee in Wellington yesterday. The committee was set up as the next step in passing a bill to allow […]

Councils vulnerable to activist lobbying are pushing for the Ministry of Health to take over  decision-making powers on the future of water fluoridation. The current Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Bill before Parliament proposes to take the decision to fluoridate away from councils and give it to district health boards (DHBs). But at a select […]

MPs are expecting furious opposition to proposals on fluoridated drinking water as public hearings kick off this week. The first select committee hearings will be held tomorrow on the Government’s plan to transfer the responsibility for fluoridating water from councils to district health boards (DHBs). In a rare move, Parliament’s Health Committee has agreed to […]

Putting water fluoridation decisions in the hands of health boards won’t be a straight-forward process, a senior Hamilton politician has warned. Dave Macpherson, a city councillor and Waikato DHB member, said the board would invariably waste a huge amount of time if DHBs, rather than the Health Ministry, are saddled with the responsibility. Board members debated the […]

The controversial and costly legal battle to fluoridate the water supply in two small Taranaki towns is heading back to court – again. In October last year the South Taranaki District Council won a four-year court battle for the right to fluoridate the water supplies of Patea and Waverley. But, that ruling has now been […]