{"id":20609,"date":"2013-01-16T13:12:45","date_gmt":"2013-01-16T03:12:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=20609"},"modified":"2021-01-22T10:51:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-22T00:51:12","slug":"council-axes-fluoride","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/01\/16\/council-axes-fluoride\/","title":{"rendered":"Council Axes Fluoride"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Council employee Murray Beitzel with Mayor Cr Wayne Kratzmann … much of the fluoride currently added to town water in the South Burnett goes straight onto our gardens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

January 16, 2013<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fluoride will no longer be added to the South Burnett’s town water supplies after the South Burnett Regional Council voted unanimously today to end the practice – partly as a cost-saving measure, and partly because few people drink the water anyway.<\/p>\n

Councillors had little hesitation in putting an end to fluoridation at the Council’s first monthly meeting for 2013.<\/p>\n

The decision is expected to save between $170,000 and $200,000 a year, which is about 20 per cent of current water processing costs.<\/p>\n

Councillors heard the region was forced to fluoridate town water supplies in 2008 after the Bligh Government’s Water Fluoridation Act made the practice mandatory in Queensland.<\/p>\n

This was despite a 2007 report commissioned by the former Kingaroy Shire Council which found that 69 per cent of Kingaroy residents rated the taste of the water supply as “very poor”; a further 23 per cent rated it as “poor”; and most used tank water or other water sources for drinking.<\/p>\n

The Council was told that after the Act was passed, five fluoride plants were installed in the region by the State Government at a cost of $2 million.<\/p>\n

But the Council was forced to fund their ongoing operation and maintenance costs.<\/p>\n

Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said after the Newman Government gave councils back the power to decide whether their water supplies should be fluoridated late last year, it had become obvious that a balanced position needed to be taken for the good of the entire community.<\/p>\n

“Council is committed to responsible service delivery,” he said, “and that includes getting value for money as well as promoting the health of residents.”<\/p>\n

“The facts are that the number of residents who drink town water is very low and the cost of fluoridation is very high.”<\/p>\n

He said the Council was basing its decision to axe fluoridation purely on financial grounds and would leave the health debate to others.<\/p>\n

Water portfolio spokesperson Cr Barry Green agreed.<\/p>\n

“The reality is that most of this expensive fluoride additive is being flushed down toilets and hosed onto gardens,” he said.<\/p>\n

“At a time when we’re watching every penny, it is fiscally stupid to pay 20 per cent more for something no one uses. But I would encourage those who believe in the health benefits of fluoride to source it from elsewhere.”<\/p>\n

Cr Damien Tessmann said he agreed not only on fiscal grounds, but also on ethical grounds.<\/p>\n

“Mass medication of the population is something no government has a right to do,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Kingaroy Shire Council used to offer fluoride tablets to residents who wanted to drink fluoridated water, and I think that was probably a better approach.<\/p>\n

“I believe the community is right behind us on this.”<\/p>\n

The motion to cease adding fluoride to the Blackbutt, Nanango, Kingaroy, Wondai and Murgon water supplies “as soon as practicable” was passed unanimously.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fluoride will no longer be added to town water supplies after Council voted unanimously to end the practice<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":20661,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[22,3],"tags":[1131],"yoast_head":"\nCouncil Axes Fluoride - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/01\/16\/council-axes-fluoride\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Council Axes Fluoride - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fluoride will no longer be added to town water supplies after Council voted unanimously to end the practice\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/01\/16\/council-axes-fluoride\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-01-16T03:12:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-22T00:51:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/20130115water.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"385\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dafyd Martindale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dafyd Martindale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/01\/16\/council-axes-fluoride\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2013\/01\/16\/council-axes-fluoride\/\",\"name\":\"Council Axes Fluoride - 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