Last Friday Sarfati announced her resignation, effective from February 21.
Lawyers warned that councillors refusing to comply with the March 28 fluoridation deadline risked imprisonment.
Whang?rei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said he would go to prison over the principle of democratic freedom and the community being able to make its own fluoridation choice.
Peters said the matter was not of being pro or anti-fluoride.
“It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country.
“It is chilling that we have got to a point in New Zealand where elected politicians are being threatened with imprisonment just for doing their jobs, standing up for democracy and asking for a vote,” Peters said.
“Individual democratically elected councillors are not only being threatened with huge fines, they are now being threatened with imprisonment – all for disagreeing with a foolish law change and forcing Wellington-based bureaucrats to act.”
Deputy Director-General of Health Dr Andrew Old said Parliament had considered the issue of community water fluoridation and in 2021 passed reforms to empower the Director-General of Health to direct local authorities to fluoridate their water supplies.
Old said that more than 60 years of international and New Zealand research showed community water fluoridation was a safe, effective, and affordable way to improve oral health.
Old confirmed that Sarfati’s resignation was not related to the Whang?rei District Council’s fluoridation directive or the Ministry of Health’s approach to fluoridation nationally.
“The Ministry of Health continues to work with the Whang?rei District Council to encourage compliance with its direction to fluoridate the water supplies in Bream Bay and Whang?rei.”
New Zealand First proposed a Member’s Bill the day after the council meeting aimed at returning fluoridation decision-making power to local communities.
“All the council is fighting for is to have a referendum on the matter so locals can have a voice,” Peters said.
The “Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill” seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Director-General of Health and mandated the fluoridation of local water supplies.
It will also amend the Local Government Act 2002 and Health Act 1956 mandating local authorities to hold a binding referendum on water fluoridation.
“This bill reinstates the fundamental right for communities to determine through democracy whether or not their water supply is fluoridated,” Peters said.
He would not comment on Sarfati’s resignation.
Original article online at: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/northern-advocate/news/whangarei-fluoridation-order-sparks-backlash-from-winston-peters/L6N4ZXYWRRDYZDY6YV7PDNZFIA/