Australia - Upper house passes bill
Upper house passes bill
MADELINE HEALEY
November 23, 2007
THE State Government now had no choice but to take Warrnambool's fluoride debate seriously, according to DLP member for Western Victoria Peter Kavanagh.
Mr Kavanagh said the DLP's fluoride bill which passed through Parliament's Legislative Council (upper house) on Wednesday night would force the Government to consider the contentious issue.
The bill aims to legally require the Government to hold a referendum before adding fluoride to a water supply.
This week Mr Kavanagh also tabled a petition to Parliament signed by 2543 western Victorians who don't want fluoride in their water.
He believed the pressure from this petition had helped the bill be passed by the Legislative Council.However, before the bill can become a law it needs to pass the Legislative Assembly, which Mr Kavanagh said was highly unlikely because the Labor Party held the majority and would vote against it.
In the upper house the Liberal and minor parties voted for the bill after what Mr Kavanagh said had been an emotional debate.``When the Government saw that it was going to lose the debate its main speaker called the case against fluoride `voodoo','' he said.``In fact, the case that was presented against fluoride was based on research by Harvard University and by scientists published in the British Medical Journal and by the 2000 Nobel Prize winner for Medicine, Dr Arvid Carlsson.''
Mr Kavanagh said he thought the bill passing the Legislative Council would influence the Government.``It's got no chance of getting past the lower house, but its passage in the upper house will emphasise to the Government that there's considerable opposition to its policy of fluoridating new areas of Victoria regardless of public opinion.''Mr Kavanagh said he wouldn't be surprised if this led to the State Government holding a review of fluoride.``My opinion is that such a review would probably reveal some fairly significant doubts about the wisdom of using fluoride these days.''Warrnambool anti-fluoride campaigner Peter Hulin said he had not given up on the bill passing the lower house.
``I think it's possible for it to pass, all we need to do is educate the politicians on what the up-to-date studies are and then give them a conscience vote on the information not on party lines,'' he said.
MADELINE HEALEY
November 23, 2007
THE State Government now had no choice but to take Warrnambool's fluoride debate seriously, according to DLP member for Western Victoria Peter Kavanagh.
Mr Kavanagh said the DLP's fluoride bill which passed through Parliament's Legislative Council (upper house) on Wednesday night would force the Government to consider the contentious issue.
The bill aims to legally require the Government to hold a referendum before adding fluoride to a water supply.
This week Mr Kavanagh also tabled a petition to Parliament signed by 2543 western Victorians who don't want fluoride in their water.
He believed the pressure from this petition had helped the bill be passed by the Legislative Council.However, before the bill can become a law it needs to pass the Legislative Assembly, which Mr Kavanagh said was highly unlikely because the Labor Party held the majority and would vote against it.
In the upper house the Liberal and minor parties voted for the bill after what Mr Kavanagh said had been an emotional debate.``When the Government saw that it was going to lose the debate its main speaker called the case against fluoride `voodoo','' he said.``In fact, the case that was presented against fluoride was based on research by Harvard University and by scientists published in the British Medical Journal and by the 2000 Nobel Prize winner for Medicine, Dr Arvid Carlsson.''
Mr Kavanagh said he thought the bill passing the Legislative Council would influence the Government.``It's got no chance of getting past the lower house, but its passage in the upper house will emphasise to the Government that there's considerable opposition to its policy of fluoridating new areas of Victoria regardless of public opinion.''Mr Kavanagh said he wouldn't be surprised if this led to the State Government holding a review of fluoride.``My opinion is that such a review would probably reveal some fairly significant doubts about the wisdom of using fluoride these days.''Warrnambool anti-fluoride campaigner Peter Hulin said he had not given up on the bill passing the lower house.
``I think it's possible for it to pass, all we need to do is educate the politicians on what the up-to-date studies are and then give them a conscience vote on the information not on party lines,'' he said.
posted by Bill at
9:47 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home