History of fluoridation in Bunbury

Resistance from the beginning

In March 1975 the WA Minister for Health first raised the issue of fluoridation with the Bunbury Water Board. In May 1986, a referendum held in conjunction with the City of Bunbury Council elections returned a vote of 956 in favour and 1890 against fluoridation.

In 1997, newly formed Aqwest sent a customer survey to Bunbury residents, resulting in 42 percent against fluoridating the water, 38 percent in favour, and the remainder divided.

The Fluoride Committee hesitates

On 6 November 2000, the Fluoridation of Public Water Supplies Committee (see article below) held its 31st committee meeting in Perth to discuss the fluoridation of Bunbury and Busselton. In the minutes of this meeting, obtained via a Freedom of Information (FOI) submission, it was stated:

“[Redacted Name] believes many areas almost comply with fluoride requirements. He believes that residents may be receiving adequate fluoride levels, especially when taking into account consumption of imported foods and beverages containing fluoride (for example, a sample of Pepsi Cola revealed a fluoride level of 0.85mg/L).”

“[Redacted Name] believes there is no merit in requesting [Redacted Name] direct Bunbury and Busselton to fluoridate, because:
i) the natural fluoride levels in water supplies almost comply;
ii) there is continued resistance in the community in these two towns to have their water fluoridated;
iii) the fluoride debate in the South West could spread to the rest of Western Australia to areas that are currently fluoridated. This may generate anti-fluoride views across Western Australia as similar to what happened in Ireland.”

You call that a meeting?

During 2008 and 2009 the WA Department of Health convened public meetings in Margaret River, Eaton, Australind and Dalyellup. A total of SIX people attended the above meetings (on average of 1.5 people per meeting). Obviously this extremely poor attendance was the result of pathetically inadequate publicity amongst these communities – as desired by WA Health.

On Monday 15 February 2010, a public meeting was held in Bunbury with approximately 55 attendees. With a population of around 75,000 for Greater Bunbury and around 40,000 for the City of Bunbury, this dismally poor attendance also revealed the appalling lack of publicity for this event – once again, as desired by WA Health.

How to obtain the answers you want

In 2011, a survey was conducted by WA Health, involving 400 people aged 18 and over in Bunbury and surrounding areas. Nearly 69 percent of respondents agreed to the addition of fluoride to public drinking water supplies, while 12.3 per cent did not agree and 18.9 percent were unsure.

One question asked in this survey was: “Would you be in favour of adding fluoride to the public drinking water supply to assist in the prevention of tooth decay?”

This is clearly a leading question, that is, a question that encourages the respondent to answer in a desired way – obviously in this case, in favour of fluoridation. A leading question already contains information that a survey creator wants to confirm rather than a true and an unbiased answer to that question.

The majority of people who are not aware of the facts surrounding fluoridation, who are of course afraid of tooth decay both for themselves and their family and have heard positive comments about the effectiveness and safety of fluoridation, are very likely – if not extremely likely – to answer “Yes” to this question. On the other hand, if the public are informed of the enormous body of peer-reviewed science showing fluoridation chemicals damage the brain, bones, kidneys, joints, thyroid and pineal glands, cardiovascular system, reproductive system and even the teeth in the form of dental fluorosis, along with many large-scale studies clearly showing there is no difference in tooth decay rates between fluoridated and non-fluoridated countries, cities and regions, of course they would most likely say “NO”.

Nearly 90 percent of Bunbury not aware of fluoridation

In 2018, another very similar survey was conducted by WA Health, involving 380 people aged 18 and over, in Bunbury and Dalyellup. Just over 51 percent of respondents agreed to the addition of fluoride to public drinking water supplies, while 19.6 per cent did not agree, 24.7 percent were unsure and 4.6 percent did not answer. In just seven years, without any information whatsoever made available by WA Health on this subject, the supporters of fluoridation fell from 69 percent to 51 percent. No wonder they are now so determined and in such a hurry to fluoridate Bunbury!

Furthermore, a massive 64 percent of respondents in this 2018 survey by WA Health did not know if their water supply was fluoridated and another 24.8 percent were sure their water was already fluoridated. With nearly 90 percent unsure or answering this question incorrectly, this indicates the Bunbury community was, and still is, largely unaware of fluoridation and therefore, without adequate and unbiased education and background information, this survey, and any survey, is meaningless and CANNOT form the basis of a decision to fluoridate the City of Bunbury’s drinking water.

Again, in this 2018 survey, the same leading question asked was: “Would you be in favour of adding fluoride to the public drinking water supply to assist in the prevention of tooth decay?”

Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to ask: “Would you be in favour of adding fluoride (hexafluorosilicic acid, a hazardous waste chemical from fertiliser manufacture) to the public drinking water supply to damage the developing brain of your child, damage your bones, kidneys, thyroid and pineal glands and to have at least 50 percent of this chemical accumulating in your body every day for the rest of your life?”

Since that survey in 2018, it appears that NO further community consultation or involvement has occurred and no objective information about fluoridation has been made available by WA Health or Aqwest.

What happened elsewhere in WA?

It is worth noting, in 2012, WA Department of Health commissioned a survey regarding fluoridation of the Carnarvon water supply. In March that year, 357 telephone interviews were completed, from an estimated total population of 6,219. Overall, this survey revealed that 70 percent of survey respondents did not agree with the addition of fluoride to the public drinking water supply in Carnarvon, 17 per cent agreed and 13 per cent did not know. In this case the public were simply more informed of the facts surrounding fluoridation.

The mandate is announced

In January 2021, WA Health announced that Dalyellup will be fluoridated in June 2022 and neighbouring communities, Eaton and Australind, as well as Burekup, Brunswick Junction, Roelands and Pelican Point will be fluoridated by November 2022.

At the same time, WA Health also announced that Bunbury will be fluoridated in June 2023.