New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters. Photo / Mark Mitchell
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters has slammed the health order over Whangārei District Council fluoridation as a “despotic Soviet-era disgrace”.
Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati requires the council to fluoridate its drinking water for 80,000 people by March 28.
The council last week reaffirmed its November 28 refusal to fluoridate despite Sarfati’s email on January 30 in which she indicated it faced potential heavy penalties if convicted for refusing the order.
In her letter, Sarfati told the council it was an offence under the Health Act 1956 for a local authority to contravene a direction.
Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati announced her resignation. Photo / NZME
Lawyers warned that councillors refusing to comply with the March 28 fluoridation deadline risked imprisonment.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo said he would go to prison over the principle of democratic freedom and the community being able to make its own fluoridation choice.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo. Photo / NZME
Peters said the matter was not of being pro or anti-fluoride.
“It is a matter of what New Zealanders see and value as democracy in our country.
“It is chilling that we have got to a point in New Zealand where elected politicians are being threatened with imprisonment just for doing their jobs, standing up for democracy and asking for a vote,” Peters said.
“Individual democratically elected councillors are not only being threatened with huge fines, they are now being threatened with imprisonment – all for disagreeing with a foolish law change and forcing Wellington-based bureaucrats to act."
Deputy Director-General of Health Dr Andrew Old said Parliament had considered the issue of community water fluoridation and in 2021 passed reforms to empower the Director-General of Health to direct local authorities to fluoridate their water supplies.
Old said that more than 60 years of international and New Zealand research showed community water fluoridation was a safe, effective, and affordable way to improve oral health.
Old confirmed that Sarfati’s resignation was not related to the Whangārei District Council’s fluoridation directive or the Ministry of Health’s approach to fluoridation nationally.
“The Ministry of Health continues to work with the Whangārei District Council to encourage compliance with its direction to fluoridate the water supplies in Bream Bay and Whangārei.”
New Zealand First proposed a Member’s Bill the day after the council meeting aimed at returning fluoridation decision-making power to local communities.
“All the council is fighting for is to have a referendum on the matter so locals can have a voice,” Peters said.
The “Fluoridation (Referendum) Legislation Bill” seeks to repeal the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Director-General of Health and mandated the fluoridation of local water supplies.
It will also amend the Local Government Act 2002 and Health Act 1956 mandating local authorities to hold a binding referendum on water fluoridation.
“This bill reinstates the fundamental right for communities to determine through democracy whether or not their water supply is fluoridated,” Peters said.
He would not comment on Sarfati’s resignation.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
