Transport Minister Simeon Brown during a transport announcement in Auckland on 3 December 2024. Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The Health Minister says fluoride policy will not change, after New Zealand First announced a Member's Bill which would restore decision-making power to local communities.
It comes as Whangārei District Council is under fire from the Director General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati after it voted in December against adding fluoridation to the water.
Dr Sarfati told the council it was an offence under the Health Act 1956 for a local authority to contravene a direction (to fluoridate).
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo told Morning Report on Tuesday the Council had not broken any laws, and was still following the process.
"The most important thing right now is we've got a decision to be making about whether we will be fluoridating or not."
Cocurullo said when dealing with fluoridation and the "high chemicals you're dealing with", that it wasn't something to take lightly.
"We have a community which has a divided view on this, very clearly divided."
Cocurullo claimed the "world is turning around" on the issue of fluoride, but RNZ referenced the Chief Science Advisor's ruling that fluoride is safe in water at the levels New Zealand uses.
He pointed out the public have been removed from the ability to make the decision, according to the Health Act.
NZ First's Member's Bill would change that, by repealing the Health (Fluoridation of Drinking Water) Amendment Act 2021 that granted centralised authority to the Direct General of Health and mandated the fluoridation of local water supplies.
It would also amend legislation mandating local bodies to hold a binding referendum on water fluoridation.
NZ First leader Winston Peters said the bill reinstates the "fundamental right for communities to determine through democracy whether or not their water supply is fluoridated."
"Important public health measures such as this should be decided with transparency, debate, and local voices, not by overreaching Wellington-based bureaucrats".
Health Minister Simeon Brown said the current legislation is set, and "it's not government policy to be changing that."
Finance Minister Nicola Willis added the science around fluoride had been evaluated by experts, concluding it protects kids teeth to have fluoride in the water.
"I want my kids teeth being in good nic, and I want that for every New Zealand child."
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