Greater Wellington Regional Council Councillors

2. If not, what definite steps would you take, if you are elected, to stop fluoridation in this area?
I support my colleague Celia Wade-Brown’s attempt to look at a spring fed source of water for those not wanting to drink fluoridated water.

3. If you do support fluoridation, do you believe that it is acceptable for councillors to rely on the advice by the Ministry of Health and disregard the opinion of the people who pay for and drink the water?
I think we need to rely on a variety of scientific evidence. If further evidence were to emerge that fluoridation is harmful, then we need to look at the issue further.

4. If you are not sure, would you support a referendum or some sort of consultative process?
I would encourage anyone concerned with fluoridation to continue talking with councillors about this issue. I would also be happy to support some kind of consultation process if the community gave the Council a clear signal that it wanted to engage in such a process. We do however need to prioritise our resources; it is not possible to consult on every issue so such a move would need to be supported by many. I note also that there are some people convinced that fluoridation is positive for this city and think that their views need to be taken into consideration as well.

2. If not, what definite steps would you take, if you are elected, to stop fluoridation in this area?
I support my colleague Celia Wade-Brown’s attempt to look at a spring fed source of water for those not wanting to drink fluoridated water.

3. If you do support fluoridation, do you believe that it is acceptable for councillors to rely on the advice by the Ministry of Health and disregard the opinion of the people who pay for and drink the water?
I think we need to rely on a variety of scientific evidence. If further evidence were to emerge that fluoridation is harmful, then we need to look at the issue further.

4. If you are not sure, would you support a referendum or some sort of consultative process?
I would encourage anyone concerned with fluoridation to continue talking with councillors about this issue. I would also be happy to support some kind of consultation process if the community gave the Council a clear signal that it wanted to engage in such a process. We do however need to prioritise our resources; it is not possible to consult on every issue so such a move would need to be supported by many. I note also that there are some people convinced that fluoridation is positive for this city and think that their views need to be taken into consideration as well.

2. If not, what definite steps would you take, if you are elected, to stop fluoridation in this area?
I support my colleague Celia Wade-Brown’s attempt to look at a spring fed source of water for those not wanting to drink fluoridated water.

3. If you do support fluoridation, do you believe that it is acceptable for councillors to rely on the advice by the Ministry of Health and disregard the opinion of the people who pay for and drink the water?
I think we need to rely on a variety of scientific evidence. If further evidence were to emerge that fluoridation is harmful, then we need to look at the issue further.

4. If you are not sure, would you support a referendum or some sort of consultative process?
I would encourage anyone concerned with fluoridation to continue talking with councillors about this issue. I would also be happy to support some kind of consultation process if the community gave the Council a clear signal that it wanted to engage in such a process. We do however need to prioritise our resources; it is not possible to consult on every issue so such a move would need to be supported by many. I note also that there are some people convinced that fluoridation is positive for this city and think that their views need to be taken into consideration as well.

Thirdly: the waste miraculously turns into a health benefits to all us as drinkers of water.

Diluting toxic waste, is not a solution to pollution. Drinking diluted toxic waste is not a solution to better health.

For fluoride to strengthen teeth it needs to be applied topically so I can see no way putting it in our drinking water can have any benefits.

Many people who support fluoridation point out that it occurs naturally in water, however, the fluoride added to drinking water is, in fact, silicofluoride which is a waste by-product of aluminium smelting and does not occur naturally.

Sadly, I discovered in my research that Dental Associations around the world refuse to engage in the fluoride debate so I found very little to rebut these two crucial points.

If elected, I will be a first term councillor and will have a heavy workload getting up to speed on a wide range of issues so I cannot promise to stop the WCC and WRC fluoridating our water supply but I will ensure my fellow councillors know my concerns and I will work to ensure they are all informed on the issue.

Absolutely I support a referendum on the issue and believe it must be preceded with an education campaign where both sides have the opportunity to put their points of view across. This is something I will push for.

Clearly the science needs to be discussed and understood. If outcome is that fluoridation has no benefit, as you claim, then it simply makes no sense to continue puting it in the water. If the outcome is that there are pros and cons with its use, then those need to be carefully weighed before I could make a decision.

If the opinion of the people is against fluoridation, but there would be serious consequences to its removal, I would need to be comfortable that those consequences were widely understood and acceptable before I could support its removal.
I think the science should be discussed and understood and this would probably be better done through a consultation process rather than a referendum.
Unfortunately I don’t imagine this is black and white, which is what makes these issues difficult. As mentioned above, if the outcome is that fluoridation has no measurable benefit, then it’s a no brainer: I’d support its removal. If there are benefits, but also consequences for its use, then those would need to be weighed. It might be that there are alternative means for achieving those benefits other than fluoridating water.