FLUORIDE FREE WA — CORRESPONDENCE
396. Hon AARON STONEHOUSE to the parliamentary secretary
representing the Minister for Health:
I refer the minister to recent correspondence his office
received from Fluoride Free WA inviting him or a representative of his staff to
meet with Professor Paul Connett, executive director of the New York–based
Fluoride Action Network and director of the American Environmental Health
Studies Project, during his recent visit to WA.
(1) Can the
minister confirm receipt of these various pieces of correspondence; namely, an
email dated 11 October 2019, a letter dated 2 February 2020, and a further
letter dated 5 March 2020?
(2) Is the
minister also able to confirm receipt of an email from Fluoride Free WA dated
13 March 2020 and of a letter of the same date, addressed to Mr Alan Singh,
executive director of the National Health and Medical Research Council, and
copied to the minister?
(3) What
response, if any, did the minister or his staff make to each of these pieces of
correspondence, and on what date?
(4) Specifically
in relation to the invitation to meet with Professor Connett, I understand that
the current COVID-19 situation caused a number of his public appearances to be
cancelled, but prior to that, did the minister or any member of his staff offer
to meet with the professor; and, if not, why not?
The PRESIDENT: Member, that is probably
stepping outside the definition of being concise, but I am sure the
parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Health has an appropriate response.
Hon ALANNA CLOHESY
replied:
Thank you, Madam President, and I thank the honourable member
for some notice of the question.
(1)–(2) Yes.
(3) In
relation to correspondence of 11 October 2019, the minister's office
sought advice from the Department of Health. DOH advised of extensive
engagement with the group on repetitive issues and suggested declining requests
to meet. With respect to the requests of 2 February 2020 and 5 March 2020, the
minister provided an apology. The 13 March 2020 correspondence was cc-ed
correspondence only.
(4) No. The
minister and his staff were focused on the response to COVID-19.