Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Vince Cocurullo: Whangārei Mayor comments on New Zealand First's new Members Bill which seeks mandate binding local referendums on water fluoridation

Transcript

Vince Cocurullo: Whangārei Mayor comments on New Zealand First's new Members Bill which seeks mandate binding local referendums on water fluoridation · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: New Zealand First have introduced a bill to restore powers
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: of fluoridation back to local communities. Their decision to fluoridate
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: drinking water currently rests with the Director General of Health,
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: but the bill would allow locals to decide what they
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: want in their water through binding referendums. Fung Ray is
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: the only one of fourteen councils not to fluoridate it's
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: water since the government's twenty twenty two directive. Mayor Vincent
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Cocarilla joins me. Now, thanks for your time this morning.
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: Vincent, good morning, How are this morning very good?
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Thank you? Are you happy to see this bill put
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: in the ballot.
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: I think it's a very good step forward. I have
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: to say that it's great to have a central government
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: backing behind local government again.
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: Why should this decision rest locally?
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Yeah, Look, it's one of those things, especially with fluoridation,
• 0:48
  Speaker 2: there's a lot of controversy that a lot of people
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: with strong opinions from both sides and what it in days.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: By putting it back to the people, it actually gives
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the people to start the say whether people like the
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: decision at the end of the day. It's sort of
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: like when you have a binding refereeingdum it makes it
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: very clear that the community have spoken. So whichever the
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: decision may be, the community has spoken and the community
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: accept the decision. When they're when the decision is imposed
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: on them, they are always going to rebel from it.
• 1:17
  Speaker 1: How do you think fan I would vote in a referendum?
• 1:20
  Speaker 2: Oh, now that's a very hard answer on that one. Look,
• 1:24
  Speaker 2: I have I have heard from both sides of the sense,
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: and I have had very passionate people from both sides
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: of the sense, both in the medical and non medical
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: side of things, and both have very clear views and
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: opinions about it.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: Are the options that mean that everybody gets what they
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: want when it comes to this debate.
• 1:47
  Speaker 2: Look, by allowing as I said, by allowing the community
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: to have a say, actually makes the decision back onto
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: the community, so they actually take ownership of it. That's
• 1:58
  Speaker 2: what the big thing is, and that's why when you
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: impose something onto a community you will always get people
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: resenting the government for it. Whereas you if you give
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: them the decision and give them the power to actually
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: make that call, they generally accept what has been decided.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: But have you got on it?
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: May not like it?
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: Yeah, except this so yeah, exactly. So, Look, if fluoridation
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: gets put into place where you are, have you got
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: an option for people that don't want it? If it's
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: not put in place, is there another option there for
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: people who do want it?
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: And that's something that the councilor has to decide when
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: that time comes. At this present moment, we have we've
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: never floridated inny Fang today ever so, and this has
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: been through a referendum in two thousand and two, so
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: we've actually been through that process a while ago, and
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: it's probably a good time to redo that referendum and
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: it's probably a very good smart idea.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: About Was it about sixty five percent sied no in
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: that referendum.
• 2:53
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that's correct, and it was a lot of good
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: counselors at the time actually were quite surprised by the result.
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: They thought it the other way.
• 3:00
  Speaker 1: Have you got in trouble for not doing this once?
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: The interesting thing is we have broken no laws at
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: the present moment. And to say the same thing as
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: many some of the other councils who have been asked
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: to thaorroidate haven't actually started sauroidating either. So as of
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: the twenty eighth of March. That's when the mandate actually
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: has to happen. Until then, we've still broken broken no laws.
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: Okay, so it's getting It's getting close, isn't it. How
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: content Yeah? How contentious do you think that this bill
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: will be?
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: Look, I I don't know about central government. I don't
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: know how they will all or political parties will vote
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: on it. I can't answer that one either. Whether it's contentious, yes,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: I do, And again I do say it's because there
• 3:46
  Speaker 2: are very passionate people from both sites.
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: You're spoken to other councils. Are they happy with this
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: bill as well?
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: There are a lot of councils who are very very
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: happy and the main reason is because they actually would
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: prefer to have their community have a say as well.
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: Thanks, appreciate your time this morning. Nice to talk to you.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: That was Faday Mayor Vince co Courio there talking about
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: New Zealand First have introduced a bill to restore the
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: powers of floridation back to local communities.
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge, Listen live
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: to News Talks it' be from five am weekdays, or
• 4:21
  Speaker 2: follow the podcast on iHeartRadio.