Page 4547 - Week 15 - Thursday, 22 November 1990
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PLANNING, DEVELOPMENT AND INFRASTRUCTURE - STANDING COMMITTEE
Report on New Capital Works Program 1990-91
Consideration resumed from 20 September 1990, on motion by Mr Jensen:
That the report be noted.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
SOCIAL POLICY - STANDING COMMITTEE
Proposed Alteration of Reporting Date
MR STEVENSON (5.35), by leave: I move:
That paragraph (3) of the terms of reference of the Standing Committee on Social Policy's inquiry into fluoride be amended by omitting "by 29 November 1990" and substituting "by 29 April 1991".
The reason I bring the matter up is that there has been a major study conducted in America. It was ordered 13 years ago by the US Congress and conducted under the responsibility of the National Cancer Institute. Early this year the results showed equivocal indication of cancer. The major finding of the National Toxicology Committee that carried out that study was equivocal evidence of carcinogenic activity. That was held to be so important that the US Public Health Service ordered two separate scientific committees to not redo the study but simply look at the 300-odd pages, I think it was, of computer printout of the study results. That task was to take two months and those two committees should have reported by June this year. Neither of them has yet reported and I think we should wait for that report so that we can study this only animal fluoride cancer study that has ever been conducted in America by the US Public Health Service or the National Cancer Institute. The possibility is that fluoride could be shown to be a carcinogen. So far we have equivocal evidence. I believe that that fact alone would be enough to extend our reporting date so that we could take it into account.
However, there are three other factors that I think increase that importance greatly. The first is that an Austrian scientist named Ziegelbecker conducted an analysis of the data that those two committees were required to do. His findings were that there was evidence not only in rats, as had been indicated by the study, but also in mice. In other words, there was further evidence of cancer. The findings of Ziegelbecker were supported by another independent event in the US and this was published in the Lancet, the medical journal, on 22 September. All this information is recent. The report in the Lancet stated:
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