At the May 23, 2012, council meeting, the Administrator, Mr Neil Porter, endorsed the General Manager’s proposal not to conduct a community poll on water fluoridation until after the council election.
This was a crushing disappointment for most of the audience and especially the four excellent local forum speakers who spoke sensibly in favour of a poll to coincide with the council election. Alarmingly, the approximately $270K saving in cost, together with the prospect of obtaining a reliable measure of citizens’ views to assist the new councillors, failed to sway the Administrator.
At Mr. Porter’s invitation, two out-of-town speakers representing the NSW Health Department spoke in favour of postponement of a poll. One outlined the fluoridation legislation, and emphasised penalties the new council can expect if it does not comply with these mandatory and undemocratic requirements of corrupt legislation. Wendell Evans, Colgate Professor of Dentistry at the University of Sydney, did not speak to the motion at all. Not surprisingly, the Colgate Professor expressed opposition to a community poll.
The Administrator fears financial penalties against council if a democratic poll is conducted at any time. He also knows that a $300K poll may not be affordable. His decision is pathetic.
NSW Health shamelessly coerces and threatens councils when they show a reluctance to poison drinking water with toxic fluoride chemicals from polluting industries. Lunatic and evil laws allow Australian governments to mass medicate citizens without consent.
It is outrageous that citizens are not allowed to express their views via a poll at the September election. The fluoridation issue will not go away.
John Lusk
Dunbogan
