MPs” water fight

Hamish Heard
A state MP yesterday denied Geelong had been facing a water crisis and told residents with fluoride allergies to adjust their drinking behaviour after the city’s supply linked to Melbourne.
Member for South Barwon Michael Crutchfield traded blows with state Opposition Leader Ted Baillieu and community members concerned about fluoridation during a Bay FM public water forum.
Mr Crutchfield set the tone for the encounter in his opening remarks when he refuted comments from the interviewing panel, including journalists Bay FM and the Independent that Geelong was in a water crisis.
“Firstly, we are not in crisis, we never have been and we never will be,” Mr Crutchfield said.
He backed his statement by saying a Bracks Government plan for an $80 million pipeline to connect Geelong’s supplies with a Melbourne’s system had secured the region’s water future.
But Mr Baillieu took Mr Crutchfield to task over his crisis denial.
“(Labor Water Minister) John Thwaites says it’s a crisis so it’s a crisis,” Mr Baillieu said.
The forum ruffled a few feathers among the public watching on at Westfield Bay City when discussions turned to fluoridation.
The link with Melbourne’s water supplies will bring fluoride to local taps.
Water Quality Australia campaigner David McRae told the forum many people moved from Melbourne to Geelong when metropolitan supplies were fluoridated because of allergic reactions to the chemical.
“State Government has already told the people of Geelong that it would never fluoridate our water unless the people of Geelong ask for it…so there has to be a referendum,” Mr McRae said.
But Mr Crutchfield said ruled out a referendum and dismissed Mr McRae’s claims of health risks.
“We have a small minority of people opposed to fluoride and they’ve been engaging in unashamed scare mongering,” he said.
“I mean, people are allergic to peanuts and the solution to that is to avoid peanuts, so my advice for the people with allergies would be not to drink it.”
The response prompted heckling from a small contingent of antifluoride campaigners watching.
The forum also heard from ANCO turf owner Bruce Stevens who said the water “crisis” had halved his company’s workforce in the region.
“The impact on these people has been enormous,” he said.
“We’ve had at least one marriage breakdown as a result.”