‘Safe, Effective And Affordable’: New Health Minister Backs Fluoridation Stance

February 5, 2025

A Rotorua councillor is trying his
luck with the new health minister in a bid to halt
directives to fluoridate water supplies.

Minister of
Health Simeon Brown has confirmed the Government’s stance
remains the same, in that fluoridation is a “safe,
effective and affordable measure for improving oral
health”.

Rotorua Lakes Council’s Infrastructure
and Environment Committee meeting this week began with a
notice of motion from councillor Conan O’Brien —
unanimously supported by councillors. Robert Lee was
absent.

O’Brien called for chief executive Andrew
Moraes to write to Brown to direct the director general of
health, Dr Diana Sarfati, to withdraw the directive to
fluoridate drinking water until an independent public
inquiry into the health and environmental impacts and risks
was completed and its findings reported to
Parliament.

Secondly, he asked that if the minister
was unable to do so, to instead direct Sarfati not to
penalise the council for non-compliance until an inquiry was
completed and reported on.

This included legal action
or prosecution.

The council is set to hear from
Ministry of Health representatives on February 10 during a
public workshop, and will make a decision on whether to turn
on the fluoride taps on March 26.

The decision on
whether public drinking water supplies should be fluoridated
was removed from local government jurisdiction in 2021, with
the goal of improving poor dental health.

Rotorua was
among the 14 councils directed to fluoridate some or all
water supplies by then-director general of health Sir Ashley
Bloomfield.

The city has until March 28 to fluoridate
its central and eastern water supplies or risk significant
fines, and was granted an extension from April 30 last
year.

Non-compliance carries a maximum penalty of
$200,000 and up to $10,000 a day for continuing
offences.

Elected members voted last June to receive
funding for the fluoridation works. Without doing so it
could have cost ratepayers $3 million.

Moraes said at
the time it was an agreement to complete the physical works,
not to activate them.

The mandate was the subject of
several legal fights.

A Court of Appeal hearing is
scheduled for June relating to whether the High Court was
correct to find that the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act
created a procedural duty on the director general to
consider the right to refuse medical treatment under the Act
when issuing each direction.

It will not affect the
validity of directions to local authorities to fluoridate, a
ministry spokesperson confirmed.

Local Democracy
Reporting asked Brown about the notice of motion and if it
would be considered, what his powers were and how many other
councils had asked him for similar.

Brown confirmed
the Government’s stance remained the same in that
community water fluoridation was a safe, effective, and
affordable measure for improving oral
health.

Fluoridation directions were made by the
director general of health, not the minister.

The
director general considered the Bill of Rights Act and
determined the directions were justified.

A Ministry
of Health spokesperson said there had been more than 60
years of international and New Zealand research into water
fluoridation and the World Health Organisation and other
international and national health and scientific experts
endorsed it as a safe and effective public health
measure.

“The courts have also previously held water
fluoridation is a justified limit under the [Bill of Rights]
Act.”

It was aware the council had passed the notice
of motion.

The ministry would consider prosecutions on
a case-by-case basis in accordance with the Solicitor
General’s prosecution guidelines.

In December, the
Ministry of Health released the report Community Water
Fluoridation: An evidence review, which reaffirmed its
position on fluoridation being safe and the directives
remained.

– LDR is local body journalism co-funded
by RNZ and NZ On
Air.

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