Council election hopefuls urged to back water fluoridation as Queensland local government polls loom
Fluoridated water is a political hot potato few leaders in Queensland seem willing to take on.
As voters prepare to head to the polls to elect their local councils for the next four years, new Premier Steven Miles is steering clear of the controversial public health issue.
Instead, he’s following his predecessor Annastacia Palaszczuk’s mantra of leaving it to local governments to decide.
“[Mandatory fluoridation] is not something we’re actively considering at this stage,” Mr Miles said.
“I want to see every kid have access to fluoridated water and so, where local governments are willing to do that, we will support and assist them.”
Of the 77 councils in Queensland, only 26 have fluoridated water and most of those are in the populated south-east corner.
Almost two weeks out from polling day, public health experts, including Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service director Callum Blackhall, are urging council candidates to follow the science to help improve oral health in regional communities.
“By now, there is enough evidence that water fluoridation helps prevent tooth decay and strengthens teeth,” Dr Blackhall said.
‘Naysayers and anarchists’
At the top end of the state, one council has remained committed to fluoridation, even after the Newman LNP government handed decision-making to local governments more than a decade ago.
At an ongoing cost of $12,000 a year, retiring Cook Shire Mayor Peter Scott said it was a no-brainer.
“It’s definitely not over-the-top or a great big extra cost,” Cr Scott said.
Cook Shire covers most of Cape York Peninsula and its fluoridated water supplies almost 1,800 residents in Cooktown — about 40 per cent of the shire’s population.
Cr Scott was mayor back in 2013 when he said the council stared down “a group of fundamentalist naysayers and anarchists” and voted to keep fluoridating drinking water.
“I think a lot of councillors may take the easy option and not stir the pot,” Cr Scott said.
“We looked at it and said, ‘No, this is definitely for the broad benefit of our community,’ and we put it in.”
Emotive issue
The Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service would not provide data to the ABC, but GP dentist Shane Hearps said the Cook Shire’s decision was benefitting “generations of children”.
Dr Hearps, who Cr Scott credits as helping convince Cook Shire to back fluoridation, worked in various communities across Cape York from the early 2000s to 2016.
“I’m the person that goes into theatre and I’m treating three, four, five-year-old kids and I’m hauling out 15 to 20 teeth out of those kids because they’ve decayed off to gum level and the kid’s got pus running out of their gums,” Dr Hearps said.
“After a few days doing that, you tend to get pretty emotive about it.”
Cr Scott admitted he was surprised more councils still had not acted.
“But look, it’s a very emotive issue,” he said.
“The ones who were anti [fluoridation] are awfully, awfully — what’s the word? — robust in their arguments.”
Poorer areas missing out
About 90 per cent of Australians can access fluoridated water, compared to fewer than 80 per cent of Queenslanders.
A University of Queensland study published in the Medical Journal of Australia in January found the decision to hand responsibility to local councils meant residents in poorer areas of the state were less likely to have access to fluoridated water, “exacerbating their already greater risk of dental disease”.
“Queensland water fluoridation policy should be revised so that all residents can benefit from this evidence-based public health intervention for reducing the prevalence of dental caries,” it concluded.
Another study led by Griffith University in 2019 looked at historical data on the oral health of Indigenous children in the Northern Peninsula Area of Cape York.
It found fluoridation was “necessary in this type of community” due to the difficulty of ensuring the long-term viability of active preventative dental health programs in the remote area.
Fluoride not resonating
Queensland’s Health Minister Shannon Fentiman defended the government’s stance, saying local councils were “best placed” to make decisions around fluoridation.
“My message to the local council candidates that are currently running is we are prepared to assist you with the infrastructure costs or the operational costs of putting fluoride in the water,” Ms Fentiman said.
But it’s barely creating a ripple among candidates during the campaign.
Political commentator Maxine Newlands, from James Cook University’s Cairns Institute, said fluoridation had “traditionally been a contentious issue” in Queensland, dating back to Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen’s premiership.
“A lot of councils are either saying there’s no need for it or if it’s going to go in, the costs have got to be met by the state,” she said.
Dr Newlands said statistics and research findings were unlikely to elevate fluoridation as an issue when there were more pressing political concerns like the cost of living.
However, she said demographic changes such as migration from interstate, urbanisation, and generational change could eventually lead to government action in the future.
“It’s only when it starts affecting us at a family level and individual level [that] we start looking for changes from our councils and politicians,” Dr Newlands said.
Dr Hearps considers the Cook council’s commitment to fluoride as the “highlight of my professional career”, but he remains frustrated other regions haven’t followed suit.
“You can throw all the money at the world at [dental services], but unless you do something about reducing the amount of disease that’s coming through, you’re never going to catch up,” he said.
“Mandating fluoridation and reducing the amount of decay, they’ve got a chance at actually making a difference.”
Original article online at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-29/council-elections-water-fluoridation-queensland/103521904