Queensland Moves into the mid-20th Century

The Premire of Queensland announced today that the state would step up and start adding fluoride to the water supply over the opposition of the small, but apparently powerful, anti-fluoridation lobby. According to The Australian,

"Townsville is Queensland's only city with fluoridated water; it was introduced in 1964. The north Queensland centre now has 65 per cent lower tooth decay rates in children than Brisbane."

Hard to believe it took 40 years for that little real world experiment to get the ball rolling. But then, this is also the state that refuses to adopt daylight savings time. Skeptical people those Queenslanders. Kind of like Texans.

Bundaberg

Back from Bundaberg, "one of Queensland's most modern and progressive cities." Initially, I scoffed at this claim, but then for QLD, Bundaberg probably could be considered a bustling urban centre. In any case, I was up there for the inaugural Queensland Coastal Conference. But managed to sample a little local culture - a dip in the surf at Bargara, a sip of some fine Bundy Rum, and a stay at the Bert Hinkler Comfort Inn - one of the many fine motels in town (although it did take us a few days to figure out who the hell Bert Hinkler was).