Gladstone councillor Kahn Goodluck advocates for reintroducing fluoride

A Gladstone councillor whose motion successfully removed fluoride from water in 2016 is pushing for its return after hearing horror stories about children with abscesses having surgery and parents paying up to $4000.

Cr Kahn Goodluck once put forward a motion to remove fluoride from Gladstone’s water, now he’s put forward a motion to reintroduce it. Pic: Steve Vit

Whenever Kahn Goodluck takes his young children to the dentist, he thinks back to the motion he made in 2016 to remove fluoride from Gladstone’s water.

Despite being fully educated on the health benefits and consulting the Australian Dental Association Queensland, he faced the peak dental body’s condemnation when he decided the right to choose came above all else.

But as locals, particularly children like his own, suffer the penalty from no fluoride in the water, the Gladstone Regional Councillor has decided to fight for its return.

The region’s dentists have told him they have noticed a higher propensity of dental issues in Gladstone compared to other regional areas of Queensland.

Gladstone Councillor Kahn Goodluck is in favour of fluoride being in the towns drinking water. Pic: Steve Vit

“One dentist in particular serviced our community for many years as well as working in other states - anecdotally, from her lived experience, the oral health outcomes in our region are far poorer than what she saw in other states,” Cr Goodluck said.

“She’s seen two or three children every week with dental abscesses that require general anaesthetic - and there’s no private hospital, and our dentists can’t access theatres to do these surgeries. Then they’ve got to go to Rockhampton or Brisbane, and could be footing bills of $3000 or $4000.

“(I) wonder whether I made the right choice.”

Cr Goodluck has never disputed the evidence for fluoride is clear, despite being labelled a “demon”, “sell-out” and a “grub” by people in the community after recently putting forward a motion in a Gladstone Regional Council meeting for it to be reintroduced.

“Any actual peer-reviewed study from any critical agency or body shows it,” he said.

“It is hailed as one of the ten greatest health interventions in modern society.

Cr Goodluck’s motion to reintroduce fluoride to Gladstone water was rejected during the December 18 meeting. Pic: supplied

“When I voted against it (in 2016), I never argued that the science wasn’t legitimate - it was about the ethical decision of whether people should have the right to choose.”

However, the motion was voted down.

Cr Goodluck said his own role as a father also influenced his decision to introduce the motion.

“People get very emotive and passionate about this issue,” Cr Goodluck said.

Cr Goodluck used Cairns Regional Council to explain his thinking in 2016.

“It comes down to what you feel personally as a councillor - what is right and wrong,” he said.

“If you look to an example... of the Cairns council decision, they did undertake public consultation.

“The biggest percentage of people that voted in that public consultation were people that were in favour of fluoride.

“But the council still decided to remove the fluoride.”

Dr Nick Yim is the new president of the AMA Qld, pictured at the AMA head office, Brisbane 13th May 2024. Pic: Josh Woning

Information released by the Australian Medical Association Queensland found that half of all children aged between five and 10 have decay in their baby teeth, with president Dr Nick Yam saying the state has the lowest rate of fluoridation in the country.

“Since 2012, when the state government handed responsibility – including financial responsibility – to local councils for fluoridating water supplies, we have seen fluoridation coverage fall from 90 per cent of Queenslanders to just 70 per cent – the lowest in Australia,” Dr Yam said.

“One in 10 Queenslanders do not have enough teeth to chew food.

“This is another case of regional inequity.

“The 11 council regions in Southeast Queensland have fluoridated water through Seqwater, but regional and remote council areas have stopped fluoridation, mostly as a cost measure.”