Page 1507 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 27 September 1989
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substance in the water there should be public consultation; and to echo the Chief Minister's comments there should have been that public consultation 20, 25 years ago or whenever it was, before some of us - - -
A member: There was. There was discussion by the advisory council.
DR KINLOCH: Well, I read Mr Arndt's letter on this matter. I do not know the degree to which there was consultation but I certainly agree that such a thing should not be done without public consultation. The problem with public consultation often is that most of the public do not know the details of the matter. So, what I am suggesting is that that process of public consultation now take place in a fully informed manner. But the very first thing that needs to be done before that public consultation can be achieved is to go back to square one, to go back to the place where indeed most people in the world are - I am not saying they are all in a happy position there - where a toxic and possibly harmful substance is removed from the water. I keep using the word "possibly" because I want to see the evidence in due course. Then at the point when a toxic substance is removed from the water I would be happy to support the establishment of a select committee to examine the matter or to put the matter before the Social Policy Committee and to take the most up-to-date, objective advice - and I stress the word "objective".
We have had delegations come to us over the past two weeks. Frankly, there has been bullying of various kinds. I will not go into the details of it, but I certainly felt somewhat harassed and bullied indeed by one of the delegations brought by a public relations person. I felt that that was quite a partisan matter.
The main principle on this matter for me and for many others in this society is not to do with caries; it is not to do with Brisbane vis-a-vis Canberra, although those things are important; indeed, it is nothing to do with teeth. But it is to do with the freedom of the individual to be medicated or not medicated, especially in circumstances in which the medication is directed to only a proportion of the public. In this case, that is children up to the age of 12 or so.
Of course we are all feeling worried about our children and of course we want the best for our children. We also surely want the best for all members of society of all age ranges. There are serious questions about the overall effect of this particular substance which in its pure state, if that is the right way to put it, is toxic. So there are literally scores of thousands of people in this Territory, and in other parts of the world, being forcibly medicated against their will, and that has to be considered.
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