Ace Breaking News – In Introducing “The Cook” – a master of culinary art, weaving magic in the kitchen with every dish they create. Join us on a flavorful journey where passion meets innovation, and every bite tells a story! Shire Council in Far North Queensland has voted to stop fluoridating Cooktown’s water supply. The mayor voted to keep fluoride but said she would respect the democratic process.

What’s next?

Twenty-four out of 77 councils in Queensland will offer fluoridated drinking water, most of them in the more populated south-east of the state.

One of the few Queensland regional councils still providing fluoridated water has voted to stop adding the tooth-strengthening mineral to its water supply.

The Cook Shire, which covers much of the vast Cape York Peninsula in Far North Queensland, voted four to three on Tuesday to stop fluoridating the water of its largest centre, Cooktown, home to about 3,000 people.

Of the state’s 77 local government areas, only 24 will continue to fluoridate the water.

Most of them are located in the more populated south-east corner.

Cook Shire Mayor Robyn Holmes, who voted to maintain fluoridating the water, said she was disappointed in the outcome but would respect the democratic process.

“I based my decision mainly on Australian medical research … at the end of the day I couldn’t find any overwhelming evidence that suggested that adding 0.7 parts per million of fluoride to the town water supply was detrimental to health,” she said.

“I felt the advantages of preventing tooth decay, in young people in particular, was more beneficial to the broader community.”

Councillor Gavin Dear, who voted to stop fluoridating, said he hoped the decision would turn the focus onto addressing poor dietary choices that caused type 2 diabetes and tooth decay.

“That is the coming health catastrophe we all must face,” he said.

Regional divide

More than 90 per cent of Australians have access to fluoridated water. Still, that figure drops to about 70 per cent in the Sunshine State, where the Newman government devolved responsibility for fluoridation to councils in 2012.

Since then, more than one million Queenslanders, primarily in regional areas, have lost access to fluoridated drinking water, according to a 2024 study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Successive state governments dismissed calls to reintroduce mandated fluoride despite campaigning by organisations, including the Australian Medical Association, which promoted fluoridation as a safe and effective public health measure.

Gympie Regional Council stopped adding fluoride to its water supply last September.

In December, Cairns Regional Council resolved not to consider reintroducing fluoride, making the city Australia’s largest urban centre without fluoridated water.

Late last year, Cook Shire councillors resolved to undertake their own research and consultation before voting on the issue rather than have council staff gauge community sentiment.

Council chief executive Brian Joiner prepared a report that recommended fluoridation continue.

The report stated the annual cost to ratepayers was $18,000 and that a dosing plant would need to be upgraded at an additional cost of $20,000.

“As council officers have no conflicting information and no contrary or new advice from the Department of Health, an officer recommendation can only be made to continue with fluoridation of the Cooktown water supply as the status quo,” Mr Joiner wrote in the report.

Cr Holmes said her colleagues voted to stop fluoridation despite an 11th-hour deputation by the Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Service (TCHHS).

“TCHHS recommended [fluoridation] for the decline in the number of presentations in the local hospital system about tooth decay and infections due to fluoride being added to the water,” Cr Holmes said.

She said the decision should have not been “flicked” to individual local governments because the state was in a better position to make public health decisions.

“I really think it was a really, really bad decision on the state government’s part,” Cr Holmes said.

“They should have retained the decision-making authority.”

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