FAN Bulletin 896

December 10, 2007

Dear All,

Prior to a few weeks ago most, if not quite all, of our readers had probably never heard of Warrnambool, a little town nestled away in rural Victoria. Soon the whole world will know about it. It will be known as the town that refused to be bullied. That despite the odds against them is taking on the mighty Victorian government and refuses to be force fed poison and the poisonous lies fed to them by the state’s Chief health officer, Dr. John Carnie. Warrnambool is the town that stood up to be counted – literally.

How delicious it must have been for fluoridation fighters there to have woken up this morning and found front page coverage – replete with a beautiful picture – of the plans to hold a major rally in their town on Wednesday. And how nice it is to share this with all of you – who sadly probably never had this kind of press attention in your own battle. Check out the story while it is still there:

What a pity that the American public has become so complacent and the American press has sunk so low that the fluoridation of 18 million people in the Los Angeles area did not engender similar protest and similar press coverage. Instead they went like lambs. Now listen to the people of Warrnambool roar. Hopefully they will roar loud enough for the citizens of Melbourne to hear. Like their LA counterparts they too are complacent largely because the Melbourne media has done such a poor job of keeping them informed of the latest evidence of harm. These Melbourne citizens haven’t been informed about the NRC (2006) review; the ADA Nov 9 warning not to give fluoridated water to infants; the 1200 Professionals who are calling for end to fluoridation worldwide (see http://www.FluorideAction.net ) or about the citizens that have fled Melbourne because of their sensitivity to fluoride. But the citizens of Warrnambool have heard about these things and they are listening and they are acting.

Doubtless similar actions will follow from the other two members of the iron triangle fighting fluoridation in Victoria: Ballarat and Geelong. Then hopefully by Coff’s Harbor, Gosford and all the other towns being bullied in NSW and of course, all the towns of Queensland facing a precipitous move to fluoridate the whole state, after keeping the practice at bay for over 40 years.

Meanwhile, Warrnambool speaks for all of us.

Below is the article (which is also stored at FAN’s “latest news” section http://www.fluoridealert.org/news/3263.html ) and before it a summary of the situation from David McRae from Water Quality Australia. David urges us to be at that rally. Of course, that will be impossible for most people outside Australia but many of us will be there in spirit. So Vern and the two Peters and Dr. Natalie Ryan and 20 other doctors and the hundreds of other citizens in Warrnambool please hold your banners very high. You are holding them up for all of us who want our towns to have a choice, who still cling to the fragile hope that we live in a democracy, who still believe that government is there to serve us and not to bully us. You are also holding those signs up for the notion that governments should be informed by sound science and not by self-serving propaganda dished up to them by civil servants who will not read and dental lobbyists who cannot admit they were wrong on this practice.

You might wish to write a short email to David expressing your solidarity with the people of Warrnambool. I am sure he will share it with the organizers. Who knows your email might even be read out at their rally on Wednesday. David’s email address is  djmcrae@ncable.net.au

Paul Connett
———————————————–

Water Quality Australia Inc.
Fluoride Bulletin - 10th December, 2007
 
Warrnambool rally gets front page attention.

This is the front page of today’s Warrnambool Standard - a rally cry for the public demonstration against fluoridation on Wednesday evening at 6pm. Have a look; it is inspiring.
 
The Victorian state government is riding roughshod over communities, one after the other. Communities that don’t want fluoridation, communities with individuals who are allergic and sensitive to fluoride; and communities that want some DEMOCRACY on the issue that effects the bodies and the freedom of everyone.
 
This rally in Warrnambool needs to be supported by everybody who can possibly get there and give support. It is exactly the sort of rally that other towns tried to generate, and desperately needed over the last two years. Horsham, Wangaratta, Wodonga, Gippsland towns, all tried to get answers and to get the government to poll public opinion. Government didn’t listen. Perhaps in those towns they did not quite have the right organizing ability to get everybody together to protest effectively. They shouldn’t have had to - government should be listening and running referenda on this issue.
    
Somehow the outraged residents of Warrnambool, and a number of their doctors have had the right combination of indignation and know how to keep the protest up and properly inform the town about what is going on. The Warrnambool Standard, after being weak in the beginning, has rallied and reports on the  protest movement and the failure of the government authorities to answer the hard questions or to come to meetings to meet residents. It is wonderful to see a media  organization representing the community properly instead of mindlessly quoting the pro-fluoride slogans of the health department “experts’” in their departmental headquarters in Melbourne.
 
Read the Standard story at the above link.

I believe there will be follow up stories in the Standard tomorrow or Wednesday, prior to the rally.
The Standard usually posts the stories from the mornings paper on the web by about the middle of the day.
Their web address is:  
 
Here’s hoping you can come to Warrnambool or in some way send the people your best wishes and hopes for some justice in their battle - some justice that might then spread to Geelong, Ballarat, Queensland, then Melbourne and other fluoridated places that have been given no vote on it in all these years!!
 
David McRae
Water Quality Australia

Warrnambool Standard         
 the.standard.net.au

RALLY CRY

MARY ALEXANDER
December 10, 2007

Picture shows Vern Robson (front) holding a ballot box, and Peter Sycopoulis and Peter Hulin holding signs saying

OUR TOWN,
OUR CHOICE,
OUR DEMOCRACY

and the legend reads  “Vern Robson, Peter Sycopoulis and Peter Hulin hope 2000 people will join their anti-fluoride rally on Wednesday.”

Picture: DAMIAN WHITE

A PUBLIC rally in Warrnambool on Wednesday will urge Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to intervene in a last-ditch attempt to stop the city’s water being fluoridated.

Organisers are hoping to attract at least 2000 people to the rally at the Civic Green from 6pm  -  just two hours after tenders close for the fluoridation plant.

Former City of Warrnambool chief executive officer Vern Robson will lead the rally.

Mr Robson said residents were angry at the lack of consultation and the secrecy surrounding the fluoridation of water supplies in Warrnambool, Koroit and Allansford.

“The future of democracy is at stake if we don’t stand up and be counted in our communities,'’ Mr Robson said.

He claimed there was a groundswell of opposition to fluoridation growing throughout Victoria.

“It’s almost building to a stage where, if the present State Government doesn’t act on this issue, it will be a major issue at the next state election,'’ Mr Robson said.

Warrnambool’s Fluoride Action Group hopes the event will be the precursor to a major rally on the steps of State Parliament early next year where thousands of country residents are expected to protest about the compulsory fluoridation of their water supplies.

Mr Robson said Wannon Water had advertised for the design and construction of its fluoridation plant, with tenders closing at 4pm on Wednesday.

“We want to alert the community that it’s getting desperate,'’ he said.

“We want a moratorium with the Prime Minister and, more importantly, we want the local people to be given a vote through a proper plebiscite.

“If the people then vote for fluoride, well so be it.'’

The rally is expected to pass a resolution calling on Mr Rudd to stop the installation of any new fluoride dosing plants in Australia.

The group will ask for a national panel of scientific and medical experts to conduct an independent report on international trends in the use of fluoride in public water supplies.

Mr Robson said another resolution to be put to the rally would call on the South West Trades and Labour Council to get involved in the debate.

Group convener Peter Hulin said people were upset at the lack of consultation by the Department of Human Services (DHS), despite promises in May that any decision about the fluoridation of the city’s water would hinge on community support.

“We got a propaganda book from DHS that was so full of holes it was ludicrous,'’ Mr Hulin told The Standard yesterday.

“It’s a farce and that’s what got people’s backs up.'’

The group was also frustrated that the state’s chief health officer Dr John Carnie and other fluoride supporters have continually refused to present their side of the debate at public gatherings.

“They don’t want people to be informed because ignorance breeds complacency,'’ Mr Hulin said. He said  new international evidence about the use of fluoride and recent concerns by 21 Warrnambool doctors showed an “urgent national need'’ for an immediate moratorium on new dosing plants.

Protesters had decided to take their case directly to Mr Rudd because of his sympathetic record and personal concern for people suffering from asbestos-related disease.

Mr Hulin said public rallies that attracted large crowds had been successful in Warrnambool in the past.

“More than 13 years ago our community conducted a similar major rally that led to successfully retaining the Warrnambool to Melbourne passenger train service,'’ he said.

Mr Robson agreed: “It’s a last-ditch stand. We just can’t afford not to have a big representation of residents.'’