Almost 40 local residents braved the much-needed rainy weather to attend and enjoyed a three-hour discussion on fluoride and legal issues surrounding it by keynote speaker Allan Jones from the Lithgow group and the welcome input from Bega Clean Water for Life founder Connie Crawford.

Allan explained for the audience several of the over 100 different vectors by which unnatural industrial grade sodium fluoride and its chemical variants have penetrated our lives through the food we eat, the beverages we drink, the many different industrial products and applications it’s used for; and most importantly, how little real study has been done on its cumulative effects on human health.

He summarised how clearly our population is over-exposed to fluoride, making the logical argument that the addition of a heavy metal contaminated waste version of it into the water supply was, at best, completely redundant and, at worst, contributing to a litany of different health disorders.

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Continued education of the public was considered a valuable strategy.

Meeting participants were invited to join a local committee that will be working with other regional centres.

The details of a new national campaign were discussed. The legal strategies at the national, state and local level were likewise discussed at length.

The new town survey conducted as a result of the large disparity in the two earlier surveys is now almost complete.

This is not a council survey, but one conducted by concerned local residents.

Over the last month, every door on the reticulated water supply in Oberon has been knocked on and our fellow residents have been asked unambiguously for their choice on fluoridation – yes or no – and if they were contacted by NSW Health for the earlier survey.

Many residents were delighted that they had been consulted at all. Only about six per cent were ambivalent or not wishing to participate.

In order to obtain a maximum return from the township, we are asking any residents we missed to contact either myself on 0498 488 886 or Tracey on 0455 477 609 and we will be delighted to get your signature as well – for or against or undecided.

The reason the reticulated water users are being approached is that they are the people in this town that have the highest stake in fluoridation and their right to choose is paramount in the council decision process.

From their own report, two-thirds of the total 371 people that the NSW Health survey contacted live out of town and on tank, and although we respect their right to an opinion on fluoride, it’s not being forced on them.

In addition, the seminar was not any form of an attack on Oberon Council.

Regardless of how any of us may feel about the decision of five councillors to fluoridate, their decision is made.

We must respect the democratic process even when it appears it is being abused by an agenda that erodes our human right to freedom of choice.

It is, after all, the only system we have and this seminar is about how best to use it to facilitate change and hold our leadership to account.

There is no doubt that a paradigm shift regarding fluoridation is occurring all over the world.

We are riding that wave of change and ought to be very confident that, even when it appears the deck is stacked against us and the way ahead is unclear, the truth will inevitably prevail.

I honestly feel that we who have fought this fight in Oberon stand on the backs of giants in this field and it is through their great efforts in the past to raise awareness and speak out against fluoridation all over the world that we stand the best chance of eventual success against   this outdated and dangerous corporate fluoridation agenda.

This is a marathon, not a sprint.