So, the Cairns
Regional Council was in such a rush at its meeting of 30th January
2013, that it wanted to be rid of the costs of Fluoridation by 13 February 2013
– and to sell off the Fluoridation infrastructure as soon as possible. Why was there such an unseemly rush? The Council would have us believe that they
had taken account of the views of the majority of ratepayers and merely acted
on the basis that the people didn’t want such a “poison” in the water supply.
In other words, our Council
preferred to listen to superstitious mumbo-jumbo rather than to the authoritative
voice of medical experience and advice about the dental benefits to all
residents within the boundary of the Cairns Regional Council Area. They have seen fit to place the dental health
of ratepayers’ families – especially the very young children in the community –
at high risk. Who will then be
responsible for the extra dental costs incurred by a Council that has abrogated its duty of care in this matter?
And I come back to
the question… why was there such an unseemly rush?
Well, the rush has
been stemmed – at least for a short time – as the Council has become aware of a
need to provide 30 days’ advance notice of this very strange and totally
unjustifiable intention to the Department of Health. Will this provide an opportunity for the
medical profession to state its case in favour of retaining water
fluoridation? If so, will the Cairns
Regional Council take any heed of the advice of people who actually know what
they are talking about?
Or will the superstitious
mumbo-jumbo continue to sway an ignorant Council that seems happy to ignore its
duty of care to ratepayers?
It seems to me that
the answer to this lies in the answer to the other question – why was there
such an unseemly rush? According to The
Cairns Post, the Cairns Regional Council is apparently so broke that
they can't provide many of the services they’re obliged to provide. Did our Councillors see an opportunity to
cut costs and gain revenue from a sale of Fluoridation assets, under the guise
of responding to community concerns?
Those same concerns that have absolutely
no foundation is established medical fact and can only be seen as superstitious
mumbo-jumbo.
The 30-days reprieve
for Fluoridation and, as a result, the dental health of ratepayers in general
and an entire generation of children in particular, expires on 15 March. Hence, as a well-known Shakespearean dialogue would
caution :- Beware the Ides of March!
