Page 1840 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 18 October 1989
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MR STEVENSON: Is it on the point of order?
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Yes. My understanding is, Mr Stevenson, that you are required to keep your speech relevant to the reason why you are seeking to amend the Bill. So would you please keep to that particular area. Keep it relevant to the clause, Mr Stevenson.
MR STEVENSON: Yes. The reason is that it gives us an opportunity to have some public debate. Public debate is important because fluoride is dangerous. It is a dangerous product. Mr Moore mentioned earlier that some people say it is a poison. No, some people do not say it is a poison. There is the poisons schedule or poisons Act of Western Australia. It is a poison; there is no question about that. Some people do not say that, but that is what it is. It is dangerous to put this in the water supply. Granted that it had been there for 25 years, but that does not take away from the point that if this Assembly votes this Bill through today it will force fluoride back into the water supply. When you look at the medical situation, you see that that is not a good thing to do.
In my article I list various medical references. These are the reasons why we should not force it through but allow the matter to be held over until the 11th, until after the debate:
Australia is the most highly fluoridated nation in the world. Does this mean that we are more enlightened or more easily controlled?
It asks: what in 1988 is the true state of the nations? We see "Argentina, no fluoridation - discontinued"; and "Austria, no fluoridation - will not be carried out".
Mr Kaine: I rise on a point of order, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: Mr Stevenson, I rule in exactly the same way as I did before. Will you please keep your remarks relevant to your amendment to the Bill and to the particular clause that you are amending, which is clause 3.
MR STEVENSON: The reason why many countries have removed fluoride from the water supply or have never introduced fluoride in the first place is that it is harmful. In countries like Holland it has been proven to be harmful. For us to go on and force this back down the throats of the people of Canberra is absolutely not okay. There are many examples of fluoride poisoning.
Mr Kaine: I take a point of order, Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker. Mr Stevenson is talking very much in general terms when in fact all he is seeking is that it be deferred until 11 November. All I want to hear is what the relevance is of the period between now and 11 November. As far as I am concerned, everything else is irrelevant.
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