The Voice of the Maltese No. 127

Issue127

online magazine May 10, 2016online magazine

(driven by the voice driven by the voice of its readersof its readers)

The Voice of the Maltese

The annual Valletta Green Festival by the Valletta 2018The annual Valletta Green Festival by the Valletta 2018Foundation commemorated the 450th anniversary of theFoundation commemorated the 450th anniversary of thefounding of Valletta with an infiorata (pictured) in Palacefounding of Valletta with an infiorata (pictured) in PalaceSquare that was made up of 80,000 flowering plants. ThisSquare that was made up of 80,000 flowering plants. Thisyear’s effort was a reproduction of one of the oldestyear’s effort was a reproduction of one of the oldestplans of Valletta and its fortifications. (Turn to page 18plans of Valletta and its fortifications. (Turn to page 18for more about cultural activities in Valletta)for more about cultural activities in Valletta)

The Council for the Maltese Living Abroad, led its chairman ForeignThe Council for the Maltese Living Abroad, led its chairman ForeignAffairs Minister Dr George Vella, wrapped up its activities in MaltaAffairs Minister Dr George Vella, wrapped up its activities in Malta

last week with a courtesy call on the President Marie Louise Coleirolast week with a courtesy call on the President Marie Louise ColeiroPreca at the San Anton Palace. (More about the Council on page 6)Preca at the San Anton Palace. (More about the Council on page 6)

The de-c i s ionby Pri-

me MinisterM a l c o l mTurnbull tocall a doubledissolutionelection rep-resents theseventh oc-casion inAustral ia ’sfederal par-

liamentary history that this hashappened. The last double dissolu-tion was nearly 30 years ago.

A ‘double dissolu-tion’ is a constitu-tional mechanismthat allows a govern-ment (which has amajority in the Houseof Representatives) toovercome the block-ing power of the Sen-ate. The AustralianSenate is powerfuland can reject a Bill(a proposed law) evenif it has passed in theHouse of Representa-tives.

The constitutionalpower to call a doubledissolution is an Aus-tralian mechanism, apower created for theGovernor-General,not an inherited re-serve power of theBritish Monarch.

The term ‘dissolu-tion’ refers to the actof dissolving some-thing. A double disso-lution ‘dissolves’ bothHouses of Parliament– the Representativesand the Senate – inorder to try to resolvean issue through anelection.

This can only hap-pen when a Bill has

been rejected by the Sen-ate, or fails to pass, orpasses with amendmentsthat are not acceptable tothe government, after twoattempts.

Under Section 57 of the Constitu-tion, which covers double dissolu-tions, there must be an interval ofthree months before a Bill is put forthe second time.

If a deadlock continues, then thePrime Minister can advise the Gov-ernor-General to dissolve bothHouses with a view to calling anelection.Under the Constitution, each state

of the Australian federation has anequal number of senators. Twelvesenators represent each of the sixstates, elected for a period of sixyears. A system of rotation, however, en-

sures that half the Senate retiresevery three years. A double dissolu-tion election means that all posi-tions become vacant.

If an election is held and the Billor Bills that triggered the double

dissolution are stillnot passed by theSenate, then thePrime Minister cancall a joint sitting ofboth Houses. As theHouse of Representa-tives has 150 Mem-bers compared to theSenate’s 76, thisguarantees the num-bers for the passageof the Bill. A joint sit-ting has only hap-pened once inAustralia, in 1974.There have been six

double dissolutionsduring Australia’s115 years as a feder-ation.

These were in 1914,1951, 1974, 1975,1983 and 1987.

It’s risky for a gov-ernment to call adouble dissolution.Of the six held, halfhave resulted in thereturn of the govern-ment. Even then,there is still no guar-antee of a coopera-tive Senate.

Double Dissolution – What does it mean?

2 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday May 10, 2016

A copy of the historic proclamation pinned to theKings Hall entrance of the House of Reprsentatives.The original document has been preserved

by BarryYork

Dr Barry York is a historian at the Museum of Aus-tralian Democracy at Old Parliament House. He playsa big part in the museum’s Oral History Programme.He was awarded a PhD in History by the University ofNew South Wales in 1988. He has authored and co-authored several books of political history and immi-gration history and was awarded the Order ofAustralia in 2005 for his services to the recording ofimmigration history.

Two weeks ago, after the ABCC bill was voted down for a second time, 36-34, Prime Min-ister Malcolm Turnbull has now confirmed that Australians will go to the polls in a doubledissolution election on July 2. The poll comes several months earlier than originallyplanned, using rarely invoked powers to dissolve both houses of parliament. Not every-body knows what double dissolution is. This is explained in the following article.

(Museum of AustralianDemocracy at Old Parlia-

ment House, Canberrahttp//moadoph.gov.au/)

Tuesday May 10, 2016 The Voice of the Maltese 3

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Defining a Nation:The Reality or Otherwise of Peace

We utter the word PEACEand immediately a changecomes over us. We are also,I think, imbued with both a

sense of yearning, of desire and a senseof sorrow.The sense of sorrow may well have its

root in the fact that peace is somethingthat, one could argue, has never in thehistory of the human race been a condi-tion that we’ve experienced on a social,and quite likely not on a personal level.

So this is quite a challenge: to talkabout peace. To talk about somethingthat is so elusive that we cannot evenfind a definition of it in the positivesense in any of our texts and dictionar-ies. It is something that may only be de-finable in the negation of the negative.

That is, peace is the negation of allthings that it isn’t. The Oxford Diction-ary describes peace as being: “ that con-dition of a nation or a community inwhich it is not at war with another.”Definitions are given in many instancesand in each of them the absence of con-flict is the underpinning.

I must say that writing about this hasgiven me a great opportunity to onceagain deeply think about this issue. It isa vexed issue and one that I have strug-gled with all my life and don’t doubtwill continue to struggle with eternally.

I think it is reasonable to say that byfar the majority of people on the planetwant to live in peace. However, manyof us find that we are living in circum-stances that can only be described asthe opposite to this. War appears to be a way of life for hu-

manity. Yet acts of humanity are neverseen to be acts of war. This is all reflec-tive of the great irony that we facewhen we talk about people and war.This also reflects the great challenge oftalking about peace.

In terms of peace being the negationof those things that it isn’t, it looks likewe’re presently in the losing end of the

game. Looking at our modern history,say the last 120 years, is quite illuminat-ing. We’ve had numerous attempts tosecure peace that have included twoWorld Wars (each one of them toutedas ‘war to end all wars’) and nuclearproliferation.

This, of course, was instituted and

then multiplied horrifically in order toestablish a ‘balance’ between nuclearpowers so that one could not prevailover the other and to guarantee Worldpeace. This was known as the ‘coldwar’ and lasted somewhere in the vicin-ity of 45 years. It had the potential to eliminate all life

on the planet many times over, as ifonce wasn’t enough! There were at least36 other major conflicts during this pe-riod of time and an unknown numberof so called ‘minor conflicts’. The blunt statistic is that we have had

5,000 wars in 5,000 years. It is probablyquite fair to say that in each of theseconflicts there was a desire to protectsomething of value to the communitiesof the antagonists.

I would guess that in all of these con-flicts, the major desire of all sides wasto secure a lasting peace. To establish aset of conditions within which familiesand children could be raised and lifecould be ongoing and secure as a con-sequence.

So the question needs to be asked:“can peace be brought about throughwar?” I think the answer to that ques-tion is self-evident but it seems we keeptrying. We are nothing if not persistent.

We appear to be quite expert in thecreation and conduct of war, even to

the point insome instancesof having ‘rulesof engagement’ that are supposed toprotect people and property. However,while war is repugnant to us, it appearsthat we don’t understand its nature,why we tend to continue creating it, or

how to prevent itfrom starting.

Perhaps wehave some kindof inherent in-vestment in thecreation of warthat is greater atthis point in ourtime than ourdeep desire to

prevent war from happening or to stopit quickly once it has begun.

I deeply believe that the definition ofAustralia’s nationhood must not be thatforged in the fires of war. It must not beGallipoli or The Western Front in WWI,Tobruk or New Guinea during WWII,Korea or Vietnam. Certainly the actions of many of those

who fought and died are often extraor-dinarily selfless and brave. They gen-uinely saw themselves as defendingtheir loved ones and their homeland, asin some of those instances they were. Sowere those on the other side. The mere fact that Germany, an oppo-

nent in two of those wars, and Japanand Italy enemies in one, (these by theway are wars that left over 100 milliondead) have moved from being our mor-tal enemies to being amongst our clos-est trading partners and international‘friends’.

Surely if we need any evidence at all,doesn’t this point out the absolute stu-pidity of these conflicts?

China and Russia have moved frombeing our allies to recognised interna-tional military threats. All of this hasoccurred on the basis of ideology: a setof thoughts.

*to be continued in the next issue

by AndyBusuttil

During the Second World War, Malta suffered enor-mously as a consequence of Axis bombing and blockad-ing. It was the most intensely bombed land anywhere onEarth during this conflict. Yet war, for the victors, con-tinues to be celebrated and glorified. Can there be a dif-ferent way to live and a different set of humanendeavours to establish as badges of honour for nations?

Part 1


A. As you are single and have no chil-dren, I would recommend that you look ata “Reverse Mortgage” arrangement. Iwould recommend that you take smalllump sums of say $5000 at a time just totop up your bank account and once thisruns out take another lump sum. Thisway you will only build up interest on theamount withdrawn.

In the meantime the value of your housewill mostly likely continue to grow. You donot pay interest on the amount with-drawn. This will be paid when the houseis sold by you if you need to move into anaged care facility or by your beneficiarieswhen they sell the property.

Q. My mother is 94 years old and lives inan aged care facility. My father is 93 andstill living in their own house. It is nowtime for him to move into an aged care fa-cility and we have found accommodationfor him in the same facility.

Their house is valued around $550,000and the Refundable Accommodation De-posit requested is $350,000. Would theylose part of their age pension when leftwith $200,000 in the bank?

A. The Refundable Accommodation De-posit is not treated as an asset by Centre-link. Therefore if all they have as fin-ancial assets is the $200,000 from theproceeds of the house, their assets will

still be belowthe Asset TestLimit. Whenlooking at theincome testlimits the$200,000 willnot affecttheir pensioneither as theyare treated asseparated dueto ill healtheven thoughthey will be inthe same agedcare facility.

Q. My mother resides in her own unitworth around $450,000. She wishes tomove in with me and gift her unit to mydaughter who is about to get married.Will this affect her age pension?

A. It most certainly will as one is only al-lowed to gift $10,000 per annum with alimit of $30,000 over a five-year period.One option would be to allow yourdaughter to live in your mother’s homerent free while she moves in with you.

She can then leave this unit to yourdaughter in her Will. This will not triggerany capital gains tax and she will not bepenalised by gifting more than one is al-

lowed to and the unit will still be treatedas her residential home.

Q. I am 57 years of age and recently mar-ried again. We were renting but have de-cided to buy our own home and havetaken up a mortgage of $350,000. Bothmy wife and I work but we had to takethis mortgage for 20 years. We find thatwe can only just meet our fortnightly re-payments and cannot make any extra pay-ments. I have around $230,000 insuperannuation and my 53-year-old wifehas around $150,000 in super. Can wewithdraw some of this super money topay some of this mortgage off?

A. Unfortunately, as you are both workingyou are unable to make any lump sumwithdrawals from super. However, becauseyou are 57-year- old (56 being the preser-vation age) you are able to commence aNon-Commutable Account Based pension.You can take the maximum amount of 10%which amounts to approximately $23,000as pension payments.

This will be added to your taxable in-come and therefore increase your taxableincome, but you will receive a 15% tax re-bate. Once you turn 60 you will no longerneed to add the payment to your taxableincome. You can take this payment as anannual payment at the commencement ofthis income stream and pay it directly onthe mortgage.

This annual extra payment should re-duce the time of the mortgage quite sig-nificantly. As your wife is only 53 shecannot commence a Non-CommutableAccount Based Pension.

Marie-Louise Muscat is fluent in Maltese and English and can assist you in:

* Wealth Creation

* Pre Retirement and Retirement Advice

* Maximising Centrelink Benefits

* Tax effective strategies in retirement e.g. sale of property

* Rearranging finances to minimise ongoing fees prior to

entering Aged Care facilities

Call Marie-Louise for a complimentary consultation on:

(02) 9231 2133

Marie-Louise Muscat is a representative of Fiducian Fiinancial Services Pty LtdABN 46 094 765 134 AFSL and Australian Credit Licence 231103

This document contains factual in-formation only and is not intended toprovide any recommendation oropinion in relation to the topic/s dis-cussed. Fiducian recommends thatyou seek advice from a professionalto address any issues that may beraised by this article. Fiducian ac-cepts no liability for any loss suf-fered by anyone who has acted onany information in this document

Q&AQ&A

Q. I am 75 years old and single. My house is worth around$800,000 and unencumbered. I would like to continue toreside in this house, however I am now living only on theage pension as I have used up all my other finances to sup-plement my living expenses. Can you help?

This is a monthly service offered by The Voice of the Maltesein which Marie Louise Muscat from the Fiducian Finan-

cial Services helps our readers understand the complexitiesassociated with financial planning. If you need more advicesend an email to Marie Louise via: [email protected].


It is with sadness that we an-nounce the death of VictorButtigieg of Bangor NSW, a

former President and life-memberof the Maltese Community Coun-cil of NSW. He passed away tojoin the Lord on Saturday at theSutherland Hospital surroundedby his dear wife Adelaide, chil-dren and family. He was 85.

Victor, who was born in Óam-run, Malta and described bymany as "a rough diamond", washighly respected by everybody asone of the elders of our NSWcommunity.

He as also one of the foundingmembers of Melita Eagles SFC,and the club’s first president, aformer treasurer of the MalteseCultural Association, an activeUnionist and a former Watersideworker. He was also very active inpolitics. He held the position ofassistant secretary of the LabourLeague of Youths and also repre-sented the Óamrun branch at theGeneral Conference of the MaltaLabour party.

Victor was also an active sports-man in his youth, particularly intable tennis, a sport he practisedboth in Malta, where he playedfor the St Gaetan club, where hisfather Francesco was a foundermember, in a team that alsocomprised the well-known TuruLentini, Anthony Spiteri andTony Vella, and in Australia.

He emigrated to Australia be-cause he was told that he coulddo well in his line of work as acarpenter. He was 23 at the timeand travelled alone landing inSydney on October 27, 1954. Victor only worked for two years

as a carpenter in Sydney beforechanging over to become awharfie. Between 1974 and untilhis retirement age in 1991 heworked as a foreman stevedore.Victor married Adelaide, fromSliema in 1956.

An behalf of the readers of TheVoice of the Maltese condolencesto Victor Buttigieg’s family. He isgone butnot forgotten. Rest in peace dear Victor.

Malta, through popu-lar singer Ira Losco,a former contestant,

will be among the contestants from 43countries, which also include Aus-tralia, to compete for this year’s Euro-vision Song Contest that will takeplace in the Swedish capital, Stock-holm. For Malta it will be its 29th par-ticipation since 1971.

For Ira, who confirmed on her face-book page Sunday, Mother’s Day, thatshe is expecting her first baby with chefSean Gravina, this will be her secondparticipation following her appear-ance for Malta in the 2002 contestwhere she achieved second place withthe song 7th Wonder. This year shehas a song written by Desmond-Lars-son-Lungren-Pettersson Hammer andherself, "Walk on Water.

Ira Losco made the announcementof her pregnancy on Facebook to cele-brate Mother’s Day. She said: “My sec-ond rehearsals done and dusted andcomments seem to be positive. I'm sohappy you've all been part of this journeywith me and I'm happy to have sharedmany important moments in my life withyou all.

“I'm ecstatic that my boyfriend Sean,family and friends are here to support meall the way. To add to all the excitementI'm also celebrating my First Mother's Dayas a mother-to-be. Sean Gravina and I arevery very happy to finally share this news

with you all which some of you might haveguessed already.

“We never thought we would have beenso blessed with such beautiful news ac-companying this Eurovision experiencewhich has given me so much strengthboth as an artist and as a private person”.

To reach the Grand Final on Satur-day 14th, Ira first has to qualify fromthe first semi on Tuesday 10th from afield of 18 contestants.

The second semi, Wednesday 11thwill include the Australian represen-tative, Dami Im. So unlike last yearwhen Australia was a wild card entrystraight to the Grand Final, Austra-lia’s contender too will compete insemi-final stage and must get enoughvotes to go through to the Final.

This year the rules concerning voteshave been completely overhauled togive the public's choices more impactand crack down political favouritismby juries. The process will be split, witheach country's jury vote cast first andviewers' votes in all countries combinedand announced at the end.

Viewers in all countries taking partin a particular s/final are invited tovote via the official app, telephoneand/or SMS. In the first semi, viewersand juries in France, Sweden andSpain will vote. In the second viewers

and juries in Germany, Italy and theUnited Kingdom will also vote. All 43 participating countries vote in

The Grand Final. The voting windowopens after the last song has been per-formed, and ends 15 minutes later.

As per the official Eurovision rules,viewers can vote in the semi-final inwhich their country is participating,as well as the Grand Final, but theycannot vote for their own country. Assuch, as Maltese, one hopes, and ex-pects the Maltese living abroad livingin countries eligible to vote, to casttheir vote in favour of IRA LOSCO.Australians can vote in the contest dur-

ing the early morning LIVE broadcastson SBS during the interactive eveningprime time. Also tune into SBS’s LIVEearly morning semi-final and GrandFinal broadcasts (Wednesday May 11(S/Final 1), Friday May 13 (S/Final 2)and Sunday May 15 (Grand Final).

A tremendous loss

Ira Losco

Victor Butti©ieg... gone but certainlynot forgotten by family and friends

In Memory

Eurovision Song ContestSupporting mum-to-be Ira Losco in


Fl-ewwel jum tas-seba’ edizzjoni tal-laqg˙a tal-Kunsilltal-Maltin li Jg˙ixu Barra (Mejju 5-6), filwaqt li tamer˙ba lill-membri l-©odda u fera˙ lil dawk im©edda

fih, il-Ministru tal-Affarijiet Barranin Dr. Geoge W. Vella, lihu wkoll iç-Çermen tal-Kunsill semma li mill-a˙˙ar rapporti,jidher li l-Maltin huma mxerda f’154 pajjiz madwar id-dinja.

Jitnieda l-pro©ett Consul-on-the-Move

B’riΩultat tal-laqg˙at li saru qabel uanke l-a˙˙ar konvenzjoni s-sena l-o˙ra,

©ie varat il-pro©ett Consul on the Move, li g˙all-ewwel sejit˙addem minn ˙ames konsolati f’pajjiΩi barra minn Malta, lipermezz tieg˙u l-membri tal-komuntajiet Maltin ta’ barra mhuxse jibqa’ jkollhom il-˙tie©a li jmorru fl-ambaxxati biex japplikawinkella j©eddu l-pssaport Malti.

Din se jibda l-ewwel minn bliet f’˙ames pajjiΩi partikolari fejnl-aktar li hemm Maltin, f’Canberra l-Awstralja, Toronto l-Kanada, Washington l-Istati Uniti, u Ruma fl-Italja.

Bi qbil mal-uffiççju tal-passaporti qed ti©i ntrodotta s-sistemata’ mobile service bi ˙las addizzjonali ta’ €100 g˙al kull passaport.Skont il-Ministru Vella dan is-servizz sar aktar me˙tie© wara li

©ew introdotti l-passaporti biometriçi li min˙abba fihom l-app-likant kien ikollu jmur personalment f’ambaxxata jew konsulat

bie titte˙idlu d-data. Dan ifisser li dawk lijg˙ixu barra jkollhom jivvjag©aw distanzi

twal, f’xi kaΩi anke titjiriet ta’ xi ˙ames sieg˙at biex japplikaw,li jissarraf f’inkonvenjenza u spejjeΩ kbar.

Ìew skedati Ωjarat f’re©juni importanti partikolarment fejnhemm konçentrazzjoni ta’ Maltin. IΩ-Ωjarat se ji©u reklamati fuqgazzetti u ma’ entitajiet o˙ra ta’ tag˙rif uΩati mill-komunitajietMaltin. Óafna mΩ-Ωjarat se jinkludu s-Sibt biex hekk ikunu aktarproduttivi ˙alli jintla˙qu aktar applikanti.

Il-Kunsill iddiskuta wkoll: L-impatt tal-li©ijiet dwar l-iΩviluppta’ proprjeta’ fuq Maltin li Jg˙ixu Barra; Metodi biex titjieb ir-relazzjoni bejn il-Kunsill u l-assoçjazzjonijiet tal-Maltin barraminn Malta; Il-pro©ett tal-pjattaforma di©itali g˙at-tag˙lim tal-ilsien Malti Barra minn Malta. u l-preservazzjoni tal-kulturaMaltija fost komunitajiet Maltin barra .

Is-seba’ laqg˙a tal-Kunsill tal-Maltin li Jg˙ixu Barra

Maltin imxerda f’154 pajjiz madwar id-dinja

Il-Ministru fisser li dawn huma bejn mis-sjonarji u ˙addiema, u anke dawk fuq il-pjattaformi fl-ib˙ra, u d-deΩerti madwarid-dinja, li jfisser, li filwaqt li l-ma©©o-ranza assoluta tad-Dijaspora Maltijabaqg˙et fil-biçça l-kbira fil-pajjiΩi tradiz-zjonali b˙all-Awstralja, il-Kanada, l-IstatiUniti tal-Amerika u r-Renju Unit, id-di-namika nbidlet u nfirxet f’pajjiΩi ©odda,fosthom il-Bel©ju, il-Lussemburgu u l-Emirati G˙arab Mag˙quda fost o˙rajn.

Sa˙aq li dan il-fatt jitfa’ fuq il-Kunsill,b˙ala r-rappreΩentant tag˙hom responsabil-tajiet u dmirijiet importanti. Fl-istess waqtg˙amiha çara li l-gvern hu konxju tad-dif-fikultajiet li l-membri jiltaqg˙u mag˙homfil-pajjiΩi rispettivi tag˙hom, allura hukommess li jisma’ u li jag˙ti widen g˙aldak li l-Kunsill iressaq quddiemu. Il-Ministru Ωied jg˙id li l-Gvern hu wkoll

kommess li filwaqt li jkompli jibni fuq dakli sar fl-a˙˙ar snin, anke jjtella’ dawn ir-re-lazzjonijiet lejn livell iktar g˙oli.

Il-Ministru Vella qal li ©ew identifikatipunti li direttament jew indirettamentjistg˙u jolqtu lid-Diaspora Maltija, fosthomit-titjib u t-tis˙i˙ tas-servizz konsulari lijing˙ata lill-Maltin li jkunu jinsabu barraminn Malta, aktar kuntatt maΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙fid-Dijaspora u l-promozzjoni u punti o˙rata’ relevanza li jista’ jkollhom impatt indi-rett, fosthom li©ijiet proposti quddiem il-Parlament Malti, bye-laws lokali u ankedirettivi Ewropej.Huwa nieda l-pro©ett-pilota msejja˙ Con-

sul-on-the-Move li se jibda jopera fil-©img˙at li ©ejjin g˙al perijodu ta’ sentejnbi prova, bil-g˙an li tittaffa’ t-tbatija u l-is-pejjeΩ li ©abet mag˙ha l-˙tie©a li jin©abrud-data bijometrika biex jista’ jin˙are© pas-saport Malti.

Dr. George Vella qal: “Iktar ma jg˙addiΩ-Ωmien, aktar qed jikber l-g˙arfien dwar l-importanza ta’ ˙utna Maltin li jg˙ixu barraminn Malta. “Malta kienet pajjiΩ pijunier fir-rikonoxxi-

ment tal-˙tie©ijiet u l-importanza tad-Dijas-pora meta fl-1969, konna fost l-ewwel pa-jjiΩi fil-kontinent Ewropew, li ˙assejnal-˙tie©a li norganizzaw Konvenzjoni g˙all-Maltin li jg˙ixu barra minn Malta bil-Kum-missjoni Emigranti fuq quddiem nett ta’ dinl-inizjattiva.

“Malta, bir-rappreΩentazzjoni tag˙ha fl-organizzazzjoni Ewropea, Europeansthroughout the World, ETTW, tkomplitaqsam l-esperjenza u ta˙dem favur politikabarranija u Ewropea dejjem aktar sensittivalejn id-Dijaspora. B˙alissa, Malta qed tas-sumi l-kariga ta’ A©ent President ta’ din l-organizazzjoni u tmexxi l-laqg˙attal-ETTW li jsiru kull xahar fi Brussel.”

Temm jg˙id li j˙ossu fid-dmir li jixprunabiex ji©u kkunsidrati r-rakkomandazzjoni-jiet li l-Kunsill ressaq fl-a˙˙ar snin, u liwkoll hi r-responsabbilta` tieg˙u lejn dawkkollha li huma Maltin, li ja˙dmu flimkienbiex ji©u m˙arsa d-drittijiet ta’ dawk kollhali jg˙ixu barra minn xtutna.

Kif se jit˙addem

Il-Kunsill tal-Maltin li Jg˙ixuBarra fil-laqg˙a mal-MinistruGeorge Vella (ir-raba’ mil-lemin)


L-istorja muΩikali ta’ Malta hija©awhra kbira ta’ espressjoniartistika. Dan hu rifless bis-s˙i˙fl-arkivji muΩikali tal-Katidral

fl-Imdina. Ma ng˙idux biss jien immawkol il-barranin studjuΩi kbar tal-muΩika li ji©u apposta Malta minn˙afna kilometri ’l bog˙od, ˙alli jqallbuu jfittxu f’dawn l-arkivji muΩikali. Il-kollezzjoni nobbli u ta’ livell kbir tal-

muΩika Barokka tas-sekli 17 u 18 lihemm fl-Arkivji tal-Katidral, dan l-a˙˙ar ©ibdet ukoll l-interess ta’ JordanSramek, id-direttur artistiku ta’ ‘RoseEnsemble’ ta’ St Paul’s Minnesota fl-Amerika.

Nimma©ina li g˙al ˙afna, dan l-isem‘Rose Ensemble’ huwa ©did fjamant.Jista’ jkun, g˙ax ma tantx g˙andu storjaantika. Twaqqaf biss fl-1996 minn Jor-dan Sramek stess.

Kif jixhed l-isem, dan l-‘ensemble’,

huwa bbaΩat f’Minnesota, fl-Istati Uniti.Huwa grupp (qabel xejn vokali) li jis-peçjalizza kemm f’muΩika Medjevali uwkoll f’dik Rinaxximentali u Barokka.Il-muΩika li jag˙Ωlu hija mi©bura mid-dinja kollha. Wara li ssir analiΩi u riçerka kbira tax-

xog˙lijiet mag˙Ωula, dawn ji©u eseg-witi u rrekordjati fuq CDs b’tag˙rifme˙tie© u dettaljat. Il-˙idma ta’ dan il-grupp hija kkonçen-

trata fuq programmi edukattivif’kulle©©i madwar id-dinja, b’‘masterclasses’ u ‘workshops’ g˙al dawk l-is-tudenti mill-aktar avvanzati f’din il-linja muΩikali. Dan l-‘ensemble’ ja˙demukoll bis-s˙i˙ biex jg˙addi programmi

ta’ ispirazzjoni anke spiritwali u jor-bothom ma’ diversi kulturi umani. B˙alissa r-responsabbiltà kbira ta’ dan

il-grupp Amerikan taqa’ fuq JordanSramek.

Sramek ©ie Malta apposta biex jara ujeΩamina fl-Arkivji tal-Katidral. Mon-sinjur Ìwann Azzopardi, li jaf sewdawn l-arkivji muΩikali, Ωgur li kien

strumentali matul iΩ-Ωjara ta’ Sramekbiex jist˙arre© u jsib dak li forsi tnebba˙g˙alihMonsinjur Azzopardi nnifsu, qalli li

dan Sramek kien impressjonat ˙afna bl-arkivji tag˙na (b˙alma waa kolloxkienu impressjonati wkoll qablumuΩikolo©i u diretturi barranin o˙rajn).

Dan id-direttur ˙a lura mieg˙u lejnpajjiΩu g˙add ta’ kopji ta’diversi xog˙li-jiet muΩikali, fosthom dawk marbutamal-Milied Barokk Malti, li mbag˙ad©ew esegwiti f’erba’ knejjes ewlenin,fosthom fil-Katidral tan-Natività f’Min-nesota. Il-midja Amerikana u l-Euro-pean Broadcasting Union irrappurtawli l-kunçert kien suççess u niΩel g˙asel

mal-udjenza. Jekk xi ˙add mill-qarrejja hu nteressat

u jixtieq aktar tag˙rif jista’ jisma’ g˙all-inqas parti minn dan il-kunçert ta’muΩika Barokka tal-Milied Malti minndjaru minn fuq il-kompjuter.

Biex isir dan wie˙ed irid jid˙ol fuqyoutube.com, u jikteb u fittex: ‘Rose En-semble’ Christmas concert of Maltese

Baroque music. Hemmwie˙ed jista’ jisma’ jara ujisma’ l-‘Magnificat’, miktubg˙al tmien vuçijiet.

Il-kompoΩitur ta’ din is-siltamhux mag˙ruf iΩda huwakompoΩitur tas-seklu 17.Tistg˙u tisimg˙u xi ˙lewwata’ ‘Magnificat’. Imma ftakruli l-manuskritti ori©inalitieg˙u jinsabu fl-arkivjimuΩikali tal-MuΩew tal-Katidral fl-Imdina. Min forsijkun Malta g˙al btala u jkunjintressah jag˙mel tajjeb li jΩurl-arkivji.

Interessanti l-fatt lid an kienil-bidu biss ta’ din l-avventuramuΩikali minn dan l-‘ensem-ble’ Amerikan. Aktar ‘l-qud-diem se jkun hemm aktarg˙ax Sramek ra minjiera ta’muΩika antika f’pajjiΩna. Insemmi wkoll li ftit tax-xhur

ilu, biex inkun eΩatt fit-18 ta’Jannar li g˙adda, b˙ala partimill-‘Valletta Baroque Festi-

val’, fil-Knisja tal-ÌiΩwiti l-Belt, kien sarkunçert kbir ta’ muΩika Barokka li fih©iet esegwita quddiesa ta’ BonaventuraRubino. L-unika kopja mag˙rufa ustampata ta’ din il-quddiesa ukolltinsab fl-Arkivju tal-Katidral tal-Imd-ina.

Malta tant tgawdi presti©ju li dan ix-xog˙ol kien ©ie esegwit ta˙t id-direz-zjoni ta’ Mro Vincenzo di Batta li ©ieapposta minn Ruma flimkien ma’ kor uorkestra kbira biex jesegwixxu dan ix-xog˙ol muΩikali.

Sena qabel l-istess direttur kien di©a’g˙amel kunçert ie˙or kbir ta’ din l-ist-ess quddiesa f’Ruma u wkoll ipproduçaCD tag˙ha wkoll.

PeterPaulCiantar

‘Rose Ensemble’ tal-Amerika tag˙ti ˙ajja lill-muΩika Barokka tal-Katidral tal-Imdina

Rose Ensemble’ ta’ St Paul’s Minnesota

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L-uΩu ˙aΩin tal-midja soçjaliCharles Mangion, mill-Mosta, Malta, jikteb

Interessani ˙afna l-artiklu ta’ Joseph Cu-tajar fl-a˙˙ar ˙ar©a ta’ The Voice of the

Maltese dwar il-˙sara li tista’ ssir metawie˙ed jitfa’ r-ritratti tat-tfal u wkoll xio˙rajn fuq il-pa©na tieg˙u tal-facebook.

Forsi g˙al mument wie˙ed jifra˙ jewikun irid jinteressa lil xi ˙bieb bihom,imma ©ieli jkun hemm ritratti li ‘l quddiemtixtieq li qatt ma po©©ejthom. Kif is-semma, fost l-eΩempji li wie˙ed jiddispja-cieh li jkun po©©iehom hu meta jg˙addus-snin u t˙ossok imbarazzat bihom

Nista’ nitkellem mill-esperjenza tat-tifeltieg˙i u wkoll ˙bieb tal-familja. Fejng˙andu x’jaqsam it-tifel, dan wara liggradwa kien mar ma’ s˙abu jixxalaw uwara sirt nafu ukoll li nfexxew fix-xorb.Meta kienu f’dan l-waqt xi ˙add minnhom©ibed xi ritratti u po©©ihom fuq il-pa©natal-facebook biex s˙abu jiggustawhom.Imma wara xi tlett snin tg˙idx kemm id-

dispjaçihom, g˙all-inqas nista’ ng˙id g˙at-tifel tieg˙i.

Applika g˙al post li ˙ass li kien pin©utg˙alih u ©ie msejja˙ g˙all-interview.F’waqt minnhom min kien qed imexxi d-diskursata staqsa jekk g˙andux xi vizzji,b˙al tax-xorb u meta t-tifel qallu li le g˙axjixrob xi flixkun birra kultant, ˙ari©lukopja tal-pa©na tal-facebook li kien jurihflimien ma’ s˙abu bil-fliekxen tal-birraf’idejhom u o˙rajn madwarhom.Imbg˙ad qallu, jekk xi ˙add ji©i biex juΩa

s-servizzi tal-kumpanija tag˙na u jara ri-tratt tieg˙ek b˙al dawn, x’impressjonita˙seb li jie˙u?It-tifel baqa’ ˙alqu miftu˙ u pprova jisp-

jega li dik kienet eççezzjoni. Ma giexmag˙Ωul g˙all-post tax-xog˙ol u t-tifelja˙seb li dik kienet ir-ra©uni li falla. Darb’o˙ra ˙bieb li jg˙ixu l-Ingilterra raw

artiklu fuq l-Internet imΩewwaq b’ritrattita’ xi tfal li kien jg˙id li qed jin©abru l-flusbiex itaffu t-tbatjiet ta’ tfal b˙al dawk u liqed ji©u abbandunati. Fost it-tfal kienhemm tifla tag˙hom ta’ tlett snin. Kien ri-tratt li kienu tellg˙u fuq il-facebook u ©iemisruq minn hemm.

Óag’o˙ra li ma nistax inniΩΩel hi metanara nies li fuq il-facebook page tag˙homstess jawguraw lil marthom/Ωew©hom jewlil uliedhom talli jkunu g˙alqu sninhom.Possibbli li nies b˙al dawn g˙andhomg˙alfejn juΩaw il-midja soçjali biex jawgu-raw lil marthom jew lil uliedhom li jg˙ixumag˙hom?

Affarijiet b˙al dawn inqishom b˙ala in-joranza grassa u uΩu ˙aΩin tal-midja soç-jali. Possibli li ma jifhmux kemm ikunuqed jidhru redikoli b’dan il-mod?Na˙seb li a˙na l-©enituri g˙andna nkunu

responsabbli biΩΩejjed biex mhux bissnoqog˙du attenti a˙na imma wkoll in-wissu lil uliedna.

Jikteb l-eks KonsluMalti f’Melbourne

Charles Mifsud (eks Konslu Ìenerali Maltif’Melbourne, Victoria) jikteb:

Kif Ωgur li tiftakru, sa Settembru 2013jien kont Konslu Ìenerali ta’ Malta

f'Melbourne. Dak iΩ-Ωmien kont nie˙u gost˙afna naqra ll-gazzetta The Maltese Herald.Ìara li spiççat, u bdejtu tippubblikaw danil-magazine, The Voice of the Maltese.

G˙all-bidu, anke wara li ©iet itterminata l-kariga tieg˙i f'Melbourne, kont nircevi l-magazine elettronikament. B'dispjacir kbirma bqajtx nirçevieh Qed nikteb biex jekk inhu possibbli ter©g˙u

tibdew tinkluduni fiç-çirkulazzjoni tal-mag-azine, b˙alma bqajt nirçevi newsletters ugazzetti o˙ra mill-Awstralja.

IΩ-Ωmien li qattajt mal-Komunita` Maltijaf'Melbourne baqg˙u f''qalbi. Kien Ωmien litani sodisfazzjon kbir fil-karriera twila tieg˙ifis-servizz çivili Malti u ˙assejt li l-Maltinta' Melbourne b'mod speçjali apprezzaw ix-xog˙ol kbir li g˙amilt.NOTA: Óajr lis-Sur Mifsud tal-apprezza-ment. Il-Voice ma kienx baqa’ jirçevihamin˙abba li spiçça mill-kariga ma kellniexl-indirizz elettroniku tieg˙u l-©did. Imm’issali bag˙tulna jibqa’ Ωgur li b˙all-eluf l-o˙rase tkompli tirçevi The Voice.

Wara xahar ba˙ar, il-vapur kien wasal fl-ewwel port fl-Awstralja, Frementle. Dakinhar kul˙add kien fer˙an liwasal l-Awstralja u fi ftit jiem o˙ra kienu se jaslu Mel-bourne. Imma ©ara li meta saru xi spezzjonijiet fuq il-vapur, sabu li d-dg˙ajjes tas-salvata©©, ma kienuxf’kundizzjoni tajba u l-vapur dam fil-port ˙amest ijiemsakemm id-dg˙ajjes issewwew.Il-Maltin kienu diΩappuntati ˙afna tant li ˙afna

minnhom kienu qed ja˙sbuha jekk jitilqux il-vapur u jmorru fid-destinazzjoni tag˙hom, f’Mel-bourne jew Sydney, bil-ferrovija. Imma vja©©b˙al dan kien se jqumilhom ftit flus mhux ˙aΩinu xorta kienu se jdumu xi tlett ijiem biex jaslu.

Wara laqg˙at ma’ uffiçjali tal-emigrazzjoni il-passi©©ieri kienu aççettaw li jistennew li jis-sewwew id-dg˙ajjes u jibqg˙u fuq il-vapur, ufit-8 am tas-16 ta’ Mejju l-“Arosa Kulm” da˙alPort Phillip Bay u ankra fi Station Pier, Port Mel-bourne.

Waqt li l-vapur kien f’Melbourne, re©g˙unqalg˙u problemi o˙ra, din id-darba ta’ finanziu l-vapur salpa g˙al Auckland, New Zealand,filwaqt li l-passi©©ieri li kellhom imorru Sydney,marru hemm bil-ferrovija.Wara ˙ames ©img˙at li telqu minn Malta, sa fl-

a˙˙ar l-emigranti Maltin kienu ssettiljaw fl’Aw-stralja. Óija Tony kien wie˙ed minn dawk fuqdan il-vja©© li ˙a 46 jum. Jien naf kemm il-©eni-turi tieg˙i kienu nkwetaw meta domna tantΩmien biex nie˙du a˙baru. Kul˙add beda ja˙sebli l-vapur kien intilef.L-“Arosa Kulm” kien ©ie skrapjat fi Bruges fil-

Belgju fl-1959.Wa˙da mill-passi©©ieri Maltin fuq dan il-vja©©,

kienet Rosemary Attard, dakinhar ta’ 16-il sena,li kienet flimkien mall-familja tag˙ha.Dan l-a˙˙ar Rosemary g˙amlet kuntatt mieg˙i

u qaltli li ser ti©i organizzata laqg˙a b’ikla ©oHylands Hotel, Grand Boulevarde, Craigieburn,nhar it-Tnejn, 16 ta’ Mejju min nofsinhar ‘il qud-diem biex ifakkru dan il-vja©© 60 sen’ilu.

Jekk hemm fost il-qarrejja jew tafu b’xi ˙add li kien f’dakil-vja©© tal-“Arosa Kulm” u huwa nteressat li jiltaqa’ ma’o˙rajn li wkoll kienu fuq dan l-istess vapur, jistg˙u jikkun-tattjaw li Rosemary Attard mill-aktar fis billi jçemplulhafuq (03) 9338 3920.


Xi ftit tax-xhur ilu kont ktibt artiklu li ©ie ppubblikat fuq The Voice of theMaltese Nru. 106, dwar il-vja©© storiku tal-“Arosa Kulm” f’Melbourneb’511-il emigrant Malti fuqu. Il-vja©©, li ma tantx tista’ tg˙id li kien tajjeb

kien telaq minn Malta fis-6 ta’April tal-1956.

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Is-Sittin sena mill-wasla tal-Arosa Kulmf’Melbourne

L-Arosa Kulm

PaulVella

F’dawn l-a˙˙ar ©img˙at kellna l-'a˙bar' li ©ew Ωvelati doku-menti fuq kwaΩi kwart ta' miljun entitajiet offshore. Dawnl-entitajiet kienu stabbiliti minn kumpannija legali fil-Panama, Mossack Fonseca, fuq medda ta' erbg˙in sena.

Dawn id-dokumenti ©ew Ωvelati mill-International Consortium ofInvestigative Journalists.1Biex naraw g˙alfejn dan kollu hu relevanti, irridu nifhmu x'inhu

l-offshore u g˙alfejn jintuΩa. L-International Monetary Fund tg˙id li çentru finanzjarju jisse-

jja˙ offshore meta jkun parti minn ©urisdizzjoni fejn in-negozjujsir primarjament minn entitajiet li mhumiex residenti, fejn il-valurtat-transazzjonijiet u/jew tal-assi (b˙all-proprjetà) huma ˙afnaikbar minn dawk g˙al skopijiet domestiçi (residenti), u fejn dawniç-çentri joffru xi wa˙da jew iktar minn taxxi baxxi (jew Ωero), ftitli xejn regoli finanzjarji, segretezza bankarja u anonimità.2

Il-Panama hija wa˙da minn dawn iç-çentri. O˙ra hija fil-fattMalta, fejn din l-industrija ©iet stabbilita minn gvern Nazzjonalistafis-snin tmenin. Wara li Malta ssie˙bet fl-UE, ©iet mitluba, u aççet-tat, li timmodifika xi regoli relatati li kienu miΩmuma li kienu ta'˙sara.3

Madankollu, illum l-industrija offshore ta' Malta g˙adhab'sa˙˙itha, tant hu hekk li l-Malta Financial Services Authority(MFSA) tistma li fl-2014, 56% tal-assi miΩmuma minn banek f'-Malta kienu miΩmuma minn dawk li m'g˙andhomx konnessjonimal-ekonomija domestika.4 Dan il-proporzjon qed jonqos senab'sena, g˙alhekk illum l-MFSA tg˙id li l-industrija marret onshore.Hemm ra©unijiet le©ittimi g˙alfejn wie˙ed ikollu kontijiet f'©uris-

dizzjoni barra mir-residenza tieg˙u, madankollu huwa aççettat lir-ra©uni ewlenija li individwi g˙onja jew kumpanniji kummerçjalijag˙mlu dan ikun biex inaqqsu, jew jeliminaw, it-taxxi li j˙allsu.

Dan isir billi s-sid ta' attività ekonomika f'pajjiΩ ta' taxxa g˙oljajkun jidher li g˙andu residenza f'pajjiΩ b'taxxi baxxi.

Mezz ie˙or hu li s-sid jew sidien tal-kumpannija inkorporatajkunu mo˙bija, fejn diretturi u anke dawk li jΩommu l-ishma jkununominati, alli s-sidien a˙˙arija ma jidhrux. B'dan il-mod, l-attivitàekonomika tista' ti©i mo˙bija mill-awtoritajiet. Li ©ara bid-dokumenti minn Mossack Fonseca kien li ©ew mikx-

ufin is-sidien a˙˙arija ta' dawn il-kumpanniji offshore, u dan kienjinkludi prim ministri u nies mag˙rufin o˙ra, li qajjem kjass mad-war id-dinja.L-ammont ta' flus involuti globalment f'din l-industrija huwa as-

tronomiku. Stima wa˙da minn ekonomista jismu Gabriel Zucmanhija li $7.6 triljun, li jirrappreΩenta 8% tal-©id globali, huwa miΩ-mum fiç-çentri offshore, u li l-ammont ta' taxxa iffrankati huwa ta'madwar $190 biljun fis-sena.5

Biex iΩΩomm sens ta' kemm din il-˙a©a hija kbira, biΩΩejjedtiftakar li l-Mossack Fonseca hija biss ir-raba' l-akbar kumpannijalegali offshore fid-dinja. Wie˙ed biss jista' jimma©ina x'qed ji©imistur mit-tliet kumpanniji legali offshore li huma ikbar!

Kull tant Ωmien, ikun hemm g˙ag˙a meta jinstema xi kaΩ ta'kumpannija multinazzjonali, b˙al Google jew Apple, li globalmenti˙allsu persenta©© Ωg˙ir ˙afna tal-introjtu tag˙hom b˙ala taxxa,permezz tal-uΩu intrikat ta' dawn iç-çentri offshore.

Dawn il-kumpanniji dejjem jiddefendu ru˙hom li qed jimxuskrupoloΩament skont il-li©i. Id-disgrazzja l-kbira hi li ˙afnaminnhom g˙andhom ra©un, g˙ax b˙al ma qal il-PresidentAmerikan Barack Obama ftit ilu, ˙afna minn dak li jsir huwa le-gali, mhux illegali.6

U l-li©ijiet min jag˙milhom? Mhux membri tal-parlament, fil-parlament? U dawn x'qed jag˙mlu biex isolvu l-problema?

Ftit li xejn. Ftit wisq. Diffiçli li wie˙ed jevita l-impressjoni li l-affarijiet huma kif inhuma g˙ax min g˙andu s-setg˙a li jag˙melxi a©a, ji©ifieri l-membri tal-parlament, jippreferu li jibqa' kolloxkif inhu. Forsi jaqbel lilhom, u lil min g˙andu l-kunfidenza umid˙la biΩΩejjed li jorganizza laqg˙at biex jinfluenza d-deçiΩjoni-

jiet tag˙hom.Dawk li jg˙ixu bil-paga ma jiggwadanjaw xejn bis-sistema tal-

offshore, g˙ax b˙al ma nafu l-introjtu tag˙hom jitnaqqaslu t-taxxatad-d˙ul qabel lanqas biss ma jkunu rçevew iç-çekk. Jiggwadanjaw dawk l-individwi u istituzzjonijiet kummerçjali li

t-taxxa fuq l-introjtu tag˙hom tiddependi biss fuq dak li jiddik-jaraw fil-karta tat-taxxa tag˙hom darba fis-sena, u li jag˙Ωlu li jir-ristrutturaw il-finanzi tag˙hom biex il-©id tag˙hom ji©i ma˙Ωun 'ilbog˙od minn fejn issir l-attività ekonomika. G˙al min hu bil-paga,din il-˙a©a lanqas tista' ssir.

Tbissimt naqra ftit id-dibattitu li sar Malta dan l-a˙˙ar dwar danis-su©©ett, wara li ©ie Ωvelat li xi membri tal-gvern issemmew fid-dokumenti li ar©u mill-Panama. Sar diskors dwar il-moralità u n-nuqqas ta' g˙aqal tal-a©ir tag˙hom, imma g˙alija il-punt huwaie˙or. Ma jidher li hemm xejn illegali f'dak li g˙amlu. Jekk l-a©irtag˙hom huwa tant repre˙ensibbli, g˙alfejn m'hemmx li©i kontrih?

M'hemm xejn xi jΩomm lill-membri tal-parlament milli jg˙adduli©ijiet fl-interess tal-pajjiΩ, kif suppost li qed jag˙mlu. M'hemmxejn li jΩomm lill-gvernijiet milli ja˙dmu flimkien biex isibu soluz-zjoni globali, li tirrifletti n-natura globali tal-problema. M'hemmxejn li jΩomm lill-oppoΩizzjoni milli twarrab il-parti©©janiΩmu utappo©©ja riforma proposta tal-gvern f'dan il-qasam. G˙alfejn s'issadan ma sarx?

Fl-Awstralja wkoll dan l-a˙˙ar il-gvern ˙abbar Ωieda sostanzjalifir-riΩorsi tad-dipartiment tat-taxxa biex isegwu dan is-su©©ett.Hemm sinjali li din il-kooperazzjoni bdiet issir. Per eΩempju, fl-

a˙˙ar laqg˙at tal-Grupp tal-g˙oxrin pajjiΩ l-iktar Ωviluppati, il-G20, kien prominenti pro©ett imsejja˙ BEPS li jfittex li jΩomm lilkumpanniji multinazzjonali milli jkunu jistg˙u artifiçjalmentjnaqqsu l-profitti f'pajjiΩ wie˙ed biex jittrasferuhom f'ie˙or.

Jien niskanta kif il-gvernijiet ta' madwar id-dinja, li tilfu uqeg˙din jitilfu tant introjtu, ˙allew din is-sitwazzjoni sse˙˙ g˙altant tul ta' Ωmien.Spiss nikteb li ninsab disilluΩ minn dawk li jirrappreΩentawna fil-

parlamenti ta' fejn noqog˙du. Lil min verament qed jirrap-preΩentaw? G˙alfejn hemm li©i g˙al min hu g˙ani u b'sa˙˙tu, uli©i o˙ra g˙all-bqija?G˙andna bΩonn nag˙mlu g˙aΩliet bil-g˙aqal fl-elezzjonijiet!

kitba ta’

IVAN

CAUCHI

Referenzi1. https://panamapapers.icij.org/blog/20160403 key findings.html, retrieved 2/5/20162. https://www.imf.org/external/np/mae/oshore/2000/eng/back.htm#II, retrieved 2/5/20163. http://www.lowtax.net/information/malta/malta offshore business sectors.html, retrieved 2/5/20164. MFSA Annual Report 2014, p205. https://theintercept.com/2016/04/05/heres the price countries pay for tax evasion exposed in panama -papers/, retrieved 2/5/20166. http://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/05/justice department panama papers mossack -fonseca us-investigation, retrieved 2/5/2016

Il-Panama Papers u l-politika


PerspettivaA version of this series inEnglish may be found inthe author's blog at: http://ivancauchi.blogspot.com


The Maltese SubBranch of the RSL

is given the opportu-nity to lay a wreath atthe foot of the Ceno-taph on the eve ofAnzac Day. LEFT: Mr.Charles Mifsud, thepresident of the Mal-tese Sub Branch of theRSL, accompanied byDoris Pocock is seenlaying a wreath at theCenotaph at MartinPlace; and (right) Mr.Emanuel Camilleri,the president of theMaltese CommunityCouncil of NSW withhis wife Theresa pre-paring to lay the wre-ath on behalf of all theorganisations associ-ated with the MCC.

Pictures on left and below show members ofthe Maltese community in NSW marching inthe ANZAC march. LEFT: the only Maltesebrass Band in NSW, Our Lady Queen of Peace-Band, during the parade. BELOW, members ofthe Maltese Sub Branch of the R.S.L marchingbehind its banners and the flags of Malta andAustralia.

Photos by JosephDeguara

The Maltese Communitycommemorated ANZACDay 2016 in Australiawith wreath-laying cere-monies in many cities. InSydney, ceremonies wereheld at the Cenotaph inMartin Place and thegrand parade in the city Members of the Maltese RSLSub Branch at the Cenotaph at Martin Place

Prime Minister Joseph Muscathas reshuffled his cabinet of

ministers following the demotionof Konrad Mizzi, from Ministerfor Energy and Health to a Minis-ter without portfolio. The demo-tion comes in the wake of criticismfor Mizzi’s involvement in thePanama Papers issue.

The Prime Minister himself willtake the energy portfolio, andKonrad Mizzi will still work in-side the OPM, reporting directly tohim and given ‘special tasks. DrChris Fearne who was Parliamen-tary Secretary for Health underMizzi has been promoted to Min-ister with the same portfolio.Dr. Muscat has also reinstated Dr.

Manuel Mallia, the former homeaffairs minister to a Cabinet postas Cabinet Minister to replace Dr.Jose Herrera as Minister for Com-petitiveness after Herrera was as-signed the new role of Minister forthe Environment.

The latter ministry was vacatedas Mr. Leo Brincat has been nom-inated to serve at the EuropeanCourt of Auditors in Brussels.

Brincat will also be vacating hisParliamentary seat on the ninthdistrict and make room for a newMP, a position that needs to be

Roundup of News About Malta


Government again defeats vote of noconfidence motion (over Minister Mizzi)

PM reshuffles Cabinet: demotes oneMinister and promotes another

The European Commission is pro-jecting that following economicgrowth that was more than ex-pect4d in 2015; Malta’s economic

performance will remain robust with afavourable macroeconomic outlook and afurther decline in the budget deficit from1.5% last year to 0.9% this year and 0.8%in 2017

The EC recognised that the deficit targetsof 2.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent, for both2013 and 2014 respectively, were met andfurther expects the deficit to continue de-clining to 1.8 per cent in 2015 and 1.5 percent in 2016.

It said that robust growth in private con-sumption, stronger investment and govern-ment expenditure in productive sectorswere the main contributors behind the ro-bust growth attained in 2014.

In its analysis on the local economy, theCommission expects the main drivers ofgrowth to be investment in a number oflarge-scale construction and energy projectsas well as private consumption reflecting an

increase in disposableincomes andfavourable consumersentiment.

A substantial increasein EU funds absorption,mostly in 2015, is also ex-pected to be a maindriver of growth.

The Commis-sion expects thefalling interestrates to ease ac-cess to financefor firms bring-ing about a re-duction in thecost of financingfor micro and smallenterprises.

Job creation andthe unemploymentrate are expected to outper-form euro-area peers. The Commission expects the dynamic job

creation to continue to contribute to the in-creased level of economic activity in Malta.The Commission is forecasting that as a re-sult of increases in services costs, the rat of

inflation will increase to 1.4% this yearand 2.2% the next, adding that the

deficit in public finances wouldcontinue to go down

Reacting to the report, Min-ister for Finance,

Prof. Edward Sci-cluna said he wasvery pleased thatthe Commissionacknowledged in-vestment to be themain driver be-hind Malta’s eco-nomic growth.

He added thateconomic stability

in the country, brought about bygood fiscal governance, is what has at-

tracted and will continue to attract this in-vestment.

For the second time in justover a fortnight, the gov-

ernment has won a ‘no con-fidence’ vote in Parliament.At the end of five hours ofdebate the motion was de-feated by 36 votes to 31.

This time the motion wasmoved by former LP MP,now Independent, MarleneFarrugia and seconded by theOppostion NP against formerMinister for Energy andHealth (now a minister with-out portfolio), Konrad Mizzifor getting involved in thePanama Papers issue.

Mizzi decided to abstainfrom voting; LP Deputy Le-ader Louis Grech was absentfor health reasons.Speaking during the motion

brought against him, Minis-ter Mizzi apologised unre-servedly for having openedan offshore company inPanama. He said that al-though he had no bad inten-tions in the matter, heconceded that his actionshad cast a shadow on hiswork as a minister and thatof the government.

He said that what he did

was in the interest of hisfamily, adding that there wasnothing illicit in what he did,but admitted he has a politi-cal ressponsibility to carry.He pledged his loyalty to theprime Minister and to workhard to make up for it. “I willgive my maximum to thecountry,” he said.Konrad Mizzi was demoted

from Minister for Energyand Health to a Ministerwithout portfolio in thePrime Minister’s office. Healso resigned from LabourParty deputy leader for partyaffairs.

European Commission gives Malta the thumbs upby projecting country’s Economy to remain strong

filled through a bye-election.Referring to Mizzi’s admission to

have opened an offshore firm inPanama to settle into an offshoretrust in New Zealand, the PM said:“The signs are clear that eventhough nothing illegal has takenplace, we must send a signal.”

As to his chief of staff KeithSchembri (who faced the samecriticism as Konrad Mizzi), Mus-cat said that his aide hailed fromthe business world, and was ap-pointed to his position on the basisof “personal trust, not publictrust.”

Health Minister Dr Chris Fearne

KonradMizzi

- won ano confi-

dencevote

MarleneFarrugia-presentedmotion of noconfidence

countries, saying that, “Libya is a coun-try in transition but migration is one ofour main priorities.”

He also underlined the ur-gency of achieving peace andstability in the deeply dividedcountry and expressed his ea-gerness for Air Malta to re-sume operating flights to andfrom Libya

Following the meetings, DrJoseph Muscat told a pressconference, “I know there isa huge demand for the returnof the Maltese diplomaticmission in Libya but there aresome prerequisites, namely

the safety and security of the diplomaticstaff and establishing a clear system ofhow things will proceed.” On the flight back to Malta, the Prime

Minister explained that the visit toLibya was a more “symbolic one”aimed at showing support to the UN-backed government.

“This was mainly a political visit tosend a strong message that we recognisethe GNA as the country's representa-tives,” he said.

ABOVE: Prime Minister Joseph Mus-cat (left) addressing the press withLibya’s National Unity Fgovern-ment’s PM, Fayez Mustafa al-Serraj

The government has signed a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU) with Air

Malta that will open up negotiations leadingto the sale of 49% of the national carrier’sstake to Alitalia.

The announcement was made by Tourism

Minister Edward Zammit Lewis during apress conference. The government's inten-tion is to keep the majority stake in the na-tional airline, and great attention will begiven to the future of the workers.The minister said that the MoU will lead to

further and greater discussions on the detailsof the transition aimed at making a turn-around in the national airline.

The agreement, described by the Ministeras a win-win situation for all the stakehold-ers will be tabled in the House of Represen-tatives, while a technical team will finalisedetails by July. The intention is to completethe deal as quickly as possible to start a newchapter for the national carrier.

Zammit Lewis added that Air Malta cus-tomers will be able to benefit from Alitalia'spartnership, and that this will improve thecountry's connectivity. He said it is also ben-eficial to the tourism industry, as more peo-ple from around the world will have a betterconnection with Malta.Etihad Airways owns 49% of the shares in

Alitalia

Compared to 2015, in the first threemonths of 2016 Malta registered a

massive increase of 12.7% in tourism ar-rivals, with figures from the National Sta-tistics Office, NSO also showing anincrease of 10.4% in total nights spent anda 9.3 increase in tourist expenditure.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewissaid that the numbers suggest that Maltesetourism was no longer reliant on the sum-mer months. Between January and March, 281,341 peo-

ple visited Malta staying more than 2 mil-lion nights on the island, and spending€209.4 million - an average of €744 each.The figures suggest that Russian, Swedish,

Swiss and American tourists are the mostlikely to splash out, with their average percapita expenditure topping the €1,000 mark.

The data suggests Libyan arrivals spenteven more, but the NSO urged caution inreading too much into the figures due to thesmall size of its sample.Italian and Irish tourists were the most mod-

est contributors to the Maltese economy, spentan average of €€549 and €645 respectively. Tourist arrival figures for March reflected

the broader pattern for 2016 so far as115,519 people visited Malta throughoutlast month, with 94,328 of them visiting fora holiday and the remaining 10,292 forbusiness trips.


Roundup of News About Malta

Govt signs MoU for Alitalia tobuy 49% stake in Air Malta

Tourist numbers up by 12.7% in first quarter of 2016

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat became the firstprime minister to visit Libya for official talkswith Fayez Mustafa al-Serraj, the Prime Minis-

ter of the UN-backed and newly formed Governmentof National Unity. Foreign affairs minister GeorgeVella and other government officials acompanied him.

The two leaders discussed a host of issues, with themain talking point being the reopening of the Malteseembassy in Libya, and with Muscat saying he returnof Maltese diplomats hinges on security conditions.

Dr. Muscat said that his visit was a “show of sup-port” on a European level, and told Serraj, “Malta andthe EU stand with your government.”

On his part Serraj said that the two leaders also dis-cussed migration, with the Libyan unity governmenthead acknowledging the challenge faced by European

Amemorandum of understanding between the Ministry forthe Economy and Ablecare Oil Service Group has been

signed paving the way for a €55 million investment that woulddevelop part of the 175,000m2 former Malta Shipbuilding siteat Marsa into a regional maritime, oil and gas industry hub.

Ablecare, chaired by Mr. Paul Abela, was chosen as the pre-ferred bidder to develop part of the 175,000m2 former Malta Ship-building into a regional maritime, oil and gas industry hub. Afterapproval of the process by parliamentary, Ablecare expects a con-cession for a minimum of 45 years and maximum of 65 years. Economy Minister Chris Cardona said that

the MoU is another important step instrengthening the country's potential as mar-itime hub of excellence in the Mediter-ranean.Ablecare, which specialises in the provision

of oilfield services, will be establishing aMartine facility that is dedicated to the re-pair, storage, logistics and provision of shoresupport services to the oil and gas industryand the international operations of the mar-itime energy sector in general.

Malta PM first leader to meet Libya Unity Govt

Another investment worth €55m.

Ftit li xejn dwar dan is-su©©ett... ˙lief li nistqarr li naqbel˙afna mal-pass li ˙adet il-President ta’ Malta, l-E.T MarieLouise Coleiro Preca, li tibg˙at g˙ad-diri©enti tal-Partiti u

tappellalhom li jΩommu ftit lura ˙alli ma jkomplux isa˙˙nu l-qieg˙a politika.

Trid tkun tg˙ix f’Malta biex tassew tifhem is-sa˙na politika lib˙alissa l-pajjiΩ g˙addej minnu. Óafna mill-poplu huwa mdejjaq mit-tanbir il-˙in kollu mill-midia

dwar l-istess ˙a©a. Prosit ukoll lill-President g˙all-intervent

tag˙ha mal-eks-deputata Laburista MarleneFarrugia, li kienet wa˙˙litha f’mo˙˙ha litattendi g˙all-manifestazzjoni tal-1 ta’Mejju organizzata mill-Partit Laburista...li kienet ma˙suba biex jing˙ata appo©© lill-Prim Ministru u l-Gvern.

G˙alhekk li jkollok persuna li tg˙id li setattendi, kwaΩi kwaΩi biex turi l-oppost,huwa dubjuΩ.

Ûgur li l-preΩenza ta’ Farrugia, li dan l-a˙˙ar mhux biss ikkrikat bl-a˙rax lill-Gvern, iΩda sa˙ansitratkellmet waqt attivita’ ta’protesta organizzata mill-PartitNazzjonalista, kienet se to˙loqçerta tensjoni... li minkejja l-ap-pelli kollha, xorta hija diffiçli litikkontrollaha meta g˙al din il-manifestazzjoni kien hemmstennija g˙al eluf kbar ta’ nies.

Fil-midja Maltijax’aktarx li wie˙-

ed isib a˙barijiet neg-attivi fejn jid˙ol l-in-sib u l-kaçça. Sa˙ansitra hemm min ipin©i lil Maltab˙ala xi post fejn l-g˙asafar u t-tajr huma maqbudau maqtula l-˙in kollu.

IΩda din mhix l-istampa kollha. Veru, li sfortu-natament dak li hu negattiv donnu jag˙mel ˙ossaktar mill-poΩittiv, iΩda ma nistg˙ux ng˙idu li

poΩittiv m’hemmx ukoll. Fil-fatt g˙ad kif kellna

Ωew© ©rajjiet li wrew li fuqkollox hawn ˙afna li jir-rispettaw l-ambjent fejnjid˙lu l-g˙asafar u t-tajr, uproprju fi tmiem l-ista©untal-kaçça tar-rebbieg˙a danl-ah˙ar qrajna li minn Maltag˙addiet passa kbira ta’kuççard – qatg˙a ta’ 150

tajra. Fortunatament din

id-darba ma smajnixsparaturi mill-kaçça-

turi, li minflok g˙add ©mielu minnhom telqu l-armaminn idejhom, u minflok uΩaw ‘arma’ o˙ra, il-kam-era tar-ritratti. A˙bar poΩittiva o˙ra kienet dik li wara mitt sena,

Kokka tax-Xag˙ri (Short-eared Owl) bejtet b’-suççess f’Malta. Kien hemm Ωew© kaΩijiet ta’ be-jtiet ta’ l-istess speçi fil-viçinanzi tas-Si©©iewi uWied Ωnuber f’Mejju ta’ l-1906 u f’Mejju ta’ l-1909rispettivament. Fl-1983, ji©ifiri 74 sena wara, bejtab'˙ames bajdiet kienet ©iet misjuba fuq Kemmuna IΩda dan ifisser li bdejna t-triq biex in˙arsu aktar

l-ispeçi ta’ tajr u g˙asafar? Hemm minn jg˙id liiva. IΩda jidher li l-Awtoritajiet mhumiex daqshekkfiduçjuΩi, g˙ax kieku dawn ma na˙sibx li kellhomi˙ossu l-bΩonn li g˙alissa ma jg˙idux fejn hi din il-bejta? Forsi g˙ax jibΩg˙u li tista’ ssir ˙sara lil dinit-tajra?


Dehriet panoramiçi me˙uda bir-drone, tad-dimos-trazzjonijiet tal-partiti f’Kastilja, tal-Laburisti (xellug)u Nazzjonalista. Il-mod kif ˙afna xebb˙u l-appo©©

G˙addiet il-festa tal-Ewwel ta’ Mejju... jumli fih isiru madwar id-

dinja jsiru dimostrazzjonijietmill-˙addiema, u˙ud paçifiçi uforsi o˙rajn le, imma dejjemiridu jg˙addu xi messa©©.

F’Malta l-˙addiema wkolliççelebraw bil-Partit Laburistajie˙u l-okkaΩjoni, ˙alli waqt lil-Gvern kien qed jiffaççja kri-tika min˙abba dawk mag˙rufab˙ala l-Panama Papers, isejja˙lis- segwaçi tieg˙u g˙al di-mostrazzjoni (kien hemm minsej˙ilha show of force) favur il-Prim Ministru u l-Gvern.

Malli bdew jo˙or©u r- rap-porti u r-ritratti dwar din il-

manifestazzjoni xi kummenta-turi li ma jarawx g˙ajn g˙alg˙ajn mal-Gvern sostnew li l-attendenza kienet fqira.

Ma kienx kumment g˙aliexmalajr kien hemm min fl-istessgazetta fejn saru dawn il-kum-menti tella’ ritratti mill-ajru(illum permezz tad-drone ri-tratti b˙al dawn huma komuni)tal-attendenza, kemm waqt il-protesta tal-Partit Nazzjonal-ista ftit tal-jiem qabel, u l-follali attendiet g˙ad-dimostraz-zjoni tal-Partit Laburista. Billi d-dimostrazzjonijiet saru

fl-istess lokal wie˙ed jista’maljar ixebbah. U forsi g˙al-hekk saru fl-istess post.

Botta u rispostaDwar il-politika?

PoΩittivi wkoll

Kokka tax-Xag˙ri

Il-President MLCP

Rumen li ©ie Malta g˙al ftit g˙amel g˙aΩlatassew ˙aΩina, meta biex jakkwista xi

flus ˙alli jer©a lura lejn pajjiΩu, fettilujag˙mel serqa.

Kien fuq tal-linja meta resaq wara pas-si©©iera u pprova jisirqilha l-kartiera. Li makienx jaf kien li l-mara kienet pulizija liebsapajΩan li jidher li kienet attenta g˙al reat b˙aldawn, g˙ax malli r-Rumen ˙abat se jda˙˙alidejh fil-but tag˙ha, ˙atfitu u arrestatu.

Tressaq il-Qorti, u l-Magistrat bag˙tituxag˙rejn ˙abs. U g˙amlet sew g˙ax wasalnaf’sitwazzjoni li l-pickpocketing sar problemakbira, tant li hu l-aktar reat li se˙˙ f’dawn l-a˙˙ar snin. Óafna jsostnu li Ωdied bil-mi©ja ta’ barranin

minn pajjizi b˙ar-Rumanja, il-Bulgarija, eçç.

Il-Óamis u l-Ìimg˙a li g˙addew ltaqa’ l-Kunsill g˙all-Maltin li Jg˙ixu Barra (CMLA) fejn g˙al jumejn s˙a˙g˙add ta’ rappreΩentanti tal-emigranti minn diversi

pajjizi fosthom l-Awstralja, l-Istati Uniti, il-Kanada, l-In-gilterra, eçç. iddiskutew il-problemi u l-istennijiet tal-em-igranti, kif ukoll g˙amel su©©erimenti g˙at-titjib lijixtiequ dawk il-Maltin u l-G˙awdxin li jg˙ixu barra minnart twelidhom.Irid nag˙mel xi kummenti ©enerali dwar dawn il-laqg˙at.Is-CMLA huwa g˙odda mportanti f’idejn l-emigrant Mal-

ti g˙ax dan il-Kunsill ©ie mwaqqaf snin ilu bl-iskop lijissalvagwardja l-jeddijiet tal-emigranti u Maltin o˙ra lijg˙ixu barra l-pajjiΩ u biex jipprovdi dawk is-servizzi u˙ti©ijiet tag˙hom. Dal-Kunsill twaqqaf permezz ta’ li©i approvata mill-Par-

lament Malti u g˙alhekk huwa g˙odda tajba f’idejn l-em-igrant. IΩda jidher li sfortunatament l-Emigrant donnu liftit li xejn jaf dwar dan il-Kunsill u l-funzjonijiet tieg˙u.Jidher li anke f’Malta ftit huma dawk li qatt semg˙u dwaris-CMLA. Sfortunatament l-midja lokali wkoll ftit li xejntati mportanza lil dan il-Kunsill.

Il-˙olma tal-BormliΩi li belthom tikseb l-istatura li jixirqilha bdiet ©ejja g˙ar-re-

alta` hekk kif beda x-xog˙ol fuq il-pro©ettimwieg˙ed, ji©ifieri li minflok il-bini ab-bandunat tal-Baçir numru 1, isir kampus tal-Universita`. Dan hu investiment barrani ta’ €50 miljun

mill-kumpannija ÌordaniΩa mag˙rufa b˙alas-Sadeen Group, li se tibni kampus ie˙or al-istess universita’ f’Ûonqor Point.Il-bini mistenni jitlesta fi Ωmien tlett snin u

skont Chris Cardona, il-Ministru g˙all-Ekonomija, Investiment u IntrapriΩi Ûg˙ar,li ©ie ppreΩentat bil-pjanti u ©ie mdawwarmal-post qal li dan il-pro©ett se jitfa’ fl-ekonomija Maltija mal-€25miljun. Kifjitlesta l-bini jistg˙u jibdew jin©iebu l-istu-denti barranin.Skont il-perit inkarigat, Edwin Mintoff, l-

ewwel xog˙ol, li huwa r-restawr intensivfuq il-binja mag˙rufa b˙ala l-British Build-ing, beda.

G ˙ a m e l g ˙ a Ω l a Ó a Ω i n a

Il-Kunsill tal-Maltinli Jg˙ixu Barra

Jinbeda x-xog˙ol biex fi tlett snin il-˙olma tal-BormliΩi ssir realta`


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Kif se ji©i meta jitlesta l-kampus tal-Universita` f’Bormla

Veru li meta jsiru l-laqg˙at ta’ dan il-Kun-sill f’Malta, il-midja lokali tkun preΩentig˙all-ftu˙ tal-laqg˙a tal-Kunsill. Aktarx li l-emfasi tal-midja tkun dwar dak li jg˙idu l-persuni mportanti fid-diskorsi tal-ftu˙... ukollox jieqaf hemm. Il-poplu ftit li xejn ikunjaf x’©ie diskuss, jew x’intqal waqt id-diskussjoni u x’deçiΩjonijiet ittie˙du.

Jin˙tie© li jinstab mezz biex dan il-Kunsillu x-xog˙ol li jipproponi u jwettaq ikun aktarmag˙ruf kemm lokalment u aktar u aktar

mill-Maltin li jg˙i-xu barra, li l-aktar g˙andu jimpurtahom.

Fuq kollox kif jg˙id il-Malti l-g˙ajta nofsil-bejg˙!!!

Kif wie˙ed jistenna, min-na˙a ta’ TheVoice of the Maltese, lest jag˙tih l-impor-tanza mist˙oqqa, did-darba wkoll billiddedikajna pa©na g˙alih.

(Tag˙rif dwar il-laqg˙at tal-Kunsill ssibuh f’pa©na 6 ta’ din il-˙ar©a.)

Il-membri tal-Kunsill tal-Maltin liJghixu Barra flimkien mal-MinistruGeorge Vella f’ritratt tal-okkaΩjoni

There were 167 men held at Christ-mas Island Detention Centre at theend of February costing the public

purse a staggering $243,000 a day, mean-ing that Australian taxpayers fork out$1458 a night for each person held at thisdetention centre - equal to luxury hotelrooms in Sydney and Melbourne boastingglittering city views and Steinway grand pi-anos.

The expense is on top of spending onmainland detention centres, and the $1.2billion cost of running offshore detentioncentres last financial year.

In response to a question posed by Laborat Senate estimates, the Department of Im-migration and Border Protection revealedthe daily cost of keeping someone detainedat Christmas Island was $1458.

The presidential suite at the Sir Stamfordhotel in Sydney's Circular Quay costs

$1500 a night, and features Italian silk wallcoverings, a Steinway Grand piano, ma-hogany writing desk and a Louis XV mar-ble fireplace.Melbourne's Crown Towers Premier Club

Suite, at $1400 a night, offers "unparalleledluxury" including panoramic views, floorto ceiling windows, walk-in dressing roomand complimentary drinks and canapés.In contrast, a former Christmas Island de-

tainee told Fairfax Media the facilities therewere a “one out of 10”. Men slept in bunkbeds in dorms holding 16 people. Therooms usually contained a small sealedwindow and were “very dirty, very unhy-gienic”.

He went on to say that, “The food is ab-solutely rubbish. You'd get mainly curry -curried beef, curried pasta. It's worse thanhospital food, there is nothing to chew on.The chicken is old and undercooked. It's

horrible.”The man said the conditions had fuelled

tensions among detainees, and contributedto riots at the centre last NovemberThe department also revealed it intends to

spend about $7.1 million on extra securitymeasures at the Christmas Island centre,which Immigration Minister Peter Duttonhas said houses a “hardened criminal pop-ulation” awaiting deportation after visacancellations. It is understood asylum seek-ers are also held there.

Labor's immigration spokesman RichardMarles said Australian taxpayers were leftto carry the high cost of detention “becauseof this Liberal government's inaction andincompetence”.“This government has had more than two

and a half years to resolve this issue, butslow processing and the lack of a properthird country resettlement agreement haveresulted in these cost blowouts,” he said.

Christmas Island, officially the Territoryof Christmas Island, is a territory of Aus-tralia in the Indian Ocean, comprising theisland of the same name. It has a populationof 2,072 residents who live mainly in set-tlements on the northern tip of the island.

The island was discovered on ChristmasDay (December 25) 1643, but only settledin the late 19th century. A large part, 63%of the area of 135 square kilometres is anAustralian national park.

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia


The high cost of detention at Christmas Island

Australian taxpayers fork out $1458 a night for eachperson held at the Christmas Island detention centre

Turnbull officially calls forFederal elections on July 2

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sundayfired the starting gun on one of the longest

election campaigns in Australia's history by offi-cially calling what we have been predicting, fed-eral elections for July 2. The poll comes againstthe backdrop of a flagging economy and heateddebate over sensitive political issues.

Mr. Chris Bowen, The Labor PartyShadow Treasurer speaking to The

Voice of the Maltese said the Budget putshigh-income earners and big business be-fore families and undermines Australia’sfuture. “The Liberals say this is a plan forjobs and growth – but it’s really a plan todeliver tax cuts for multinationals at the ex-pense of Australian families,” he said.

He went on to say that the budget fails toset up Australia for the future by cutting serv-ices, cutting infrastructure, skills and educa-tion. The Budget is fiscal recklessness on agrand scale, proposing an unfunded and un-costed five per cent company tax cut over tenyears, which has the potential to put Aus-tralia’s AAA credit rating at risk.

“Mr Turnbull promised fairness, but he isso desperate to give a tax cut to the top endof town that he’s changed the definition ofsmall business. Australian families are thebiggest losers tonight,” he added.

Individuals who earn the most will get adouble tax cut – someone on $1,000,000will get a $16,715 tax cut tonight whilethree quarters of Australian taxpayers re-ceive absolutely nothing.A couple with a single income of $65,000

with three children in primary school are$3,034 worse off a year – and receive no taxcuts - as a result of tonight’s Budget.

A single mother with an income of$87,000 with two children in high school is$4,463 worse off per year.

The Budget forecasts higher taxes than atany time while Labor was in Government,Mr. Bowen said, adding that it confirms theGovernment has lost control of the deficit,that it has tripled the deficit in three years,while debt continues to grow.

At the same time, Mr Bowen said theBudget confirms unnecessary spending, in-cluding the Government’s new $1,000 babybonus.

Delivering his first budget, LiberalTreasurer Scott Morrison labelledit a “new economic plan” for diffi-

cult times, scaling back the economicgrowth forecast from 2.75 per cent to 2.5per cent for next financial year.

“Voters in Australia are being offered $4billion in income tax cuts and $5.3bn inhelp for small and medium sized businessin a bid to unleash more economic growthas the Turnbull government confronts adeepening budget deficit,” wrote DavidCrowe.

The tax relief is funded by a bigger-than-expected hit to retirement nest eggs thatwill raise $2.9bn, along with a $2bn savingfrom a retreat on its higher education re-forms and a $1.2bn saving from a delay tothe families package at the heart of the lastbudget.

Choosing the cuts and spending meas-ures carefully ahead of the federal elec-tion, the government has added just$1.7bn to the budget bottom line over thenext four years. The unemployment rate isexpected to improve compared to Decem-ber’s official forecasts, holding at 5.5 percent over the four years to 2020 ratherthan hitting 6 per cent next year.

In an optimistic outlook likely to be chal-lenged by economists, the Treasurer iscounting on a jump to 3 per cent in real eco-nomic growth from 2017-18 to help takethe budget to surplus early next decade.“At such a sensitive time, none of us can

become complacent or make decisionsthat could put our successful transition atrisk. There is too much at stake,” Mr Mor-rison said in his budget speech.

The federal budget reveals deficits of$118.5bn over the four years to June 2019compared to an estimate of $108.3bn in De-cember for the same period, a $10.2bn set-back that is mostly the result of another blowto the government’s revenue forecasts.

The deficit for the next financial year isnow forecast to be $37.1bn compared to$33.7bn in December’s budget update, adeterioration of $3.4bn.

Highlighting years of failure in scalingback deficits, the coming year’s deficit is

now likely to be almost twice the $17.7bnprediction for the same year when JoeHockey unveiled his first budget statementas treasurer in late 2013 - an outlook thatwas criticised at the time for being too grim.

Modest tax relief is being offered toworkers earning more than $80,000 whorisk moving into a higher tax bracket asthe result of inflation - a “bracket creep”that will be prevented by lifting the thresh-old to $87,000.

A worker earning $81,000 would get atax cut worth $45 for the year if the cutscome into effect as planned on July 1. Aworker on $87,000 and above would get atax cut worth $315 a year.The business tax changes are the biggest

single package in the budget, giving helpto small and medium-sized businesses andensuring that unincorporated businessesare better off when they cannot get thebenefit of a lower company tax rate.The company tax rate will fall from 28.5

per cent to 27.5 per cent for small busi-nesses. The group that qualifies for thelower rate will be expanded from thosewith turnover of $2 million to a newbenchmark of $10m.Mr Morrison said: “This will mean 870,000

businesses, employing 3.4 million Aus-tralians, will have their tax rate reduced.”

Superannuation tax changes are moresweeping than predicted and include a$1.6m “transfer balance cap” that will im-pose higher taxes on wealthier retireeswhose balances exceed that amount.

As expected, Mr Morrison is matchingLabor policy by increasing super contri-butions tax from 15 to 30 per cent forthose earning more than $250,000 a year.

The concessional cap on super contribu-tions will be reduced from $30,000 to$25,000 to limit the scope for people to putmore into their retirement funds every year.

As well, the $180,000 non-concessionalcontributions cap will be replaced with a“lifetime” non-concessional cap of$500,000 - blocking all Australians fromdepositing more than that amount in lumpsums or a series of lump sums as they ap-proach retirement.


A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia

Shadow Treasurer’s

reaction

Mr. Scott Morrison presenting the budget speech 2016

Australian Budget 2016

Morrison targets super to fund tax cuts


Following the Val-letta Green Festi-val last weekend,

when two 400-year-oldgardens in Valletta op-ened their doors to thepublic for the first time,in the coming days,Malta’s capital will ag-in witness a number ofother cultural activitiesall organised by theValletta 2018 Founda-tion aimed as stimulat-ing cultural, social andthe economic regener-ation in Valletta andthe Maltese Islands.

The activities are be-ing held through col-laboration, exchange and innova-tive practice, leading to the Maltesecapital celebrating the prestigioustitle as European Capital in 2018.For three days last weekend, during

the third edition of the Green Festi-val, that once again featured the In-fiorata, a large carpet made up ofover 80,000 potted plants, that bro-ught a pop of colour to St. George'sSquare, the gardens of St. Cather-ine's Monastery, a 16th centurybuilding in Republic Street run bycloistered nuns, and the Archbish-op's Palace in Archbishop Streetwere on show.

Unlike previous years, this year'sedition of the Infiorata had a specialmeaning, as the plants were in factbeing used to reproduce the outlineof one of the early plans of Vallettaand its fortifications. This highlightsthe historical importance of thiscity, recognised as a World HeritageSite by UNESCO in 1980.

Meanwhile, cultural programmes,consisting of events and projects de-veloped with various local and in-ternational communities, will keepon being organised in preparationfor the year 2018.Next in line, are two events, name-

ly, the Strada Stretta Nascente onMay 13, and the Malta Fashionweek between May 14 and 20.The Strada Stretta Concept in collab-

oration with Valletta 2018 Founda-tion will present Sandro Zerafa:Nascente, a performance under theartistic direction of Giuseppe Schem-bri Bonaci at Strada Stretta is a jazzhomage to the great Brazilian mas-ters.

Paris based jazz musician SandroZerafa returns to his native Maltafor a unique concert dedicated toone of his earliest loves – Brazilianmusic. Together with Oliver De-gabriele and Fred Pasqua, Sandrowill pay homage to the pillars ofBrazilian popular music – MiltonNascimento, Antonio Carlos Jobim,Djavan and Caetano Veloso.Following that, for seven days, Val-

letta will provide an enchantingbackdrop to the sixth edition of theMalta Fashion Week, the prestigiousannual fashion event, and theMalta Fashion Awards that providea space through which the talentedindividuals working in Malta’s fash-ion industry may be recognised.

This national scale event marksout Malta’s growing fashion cultureas a primary creative industry, a cel-ebration of Maltese and interna-tional fashion which is given dueattention on the cultural calendar.

Last year, Malta Fashion Week, ata number of locations around Val-letta, including the Renzo Pianosteps at City Gate, Pjazza Reġina,and the newly restored Fort St Elmo,brought together local talent and es-tablished international designers. This year the newly renovated Fort

St Angelo, at Vittoriosa (Birgu) fac-ing Valletta, that has great signifi-cance to the Maltese people, willtake a new role as the hub of theMalta Fashion Week. Various showswill be held in various strategic lo-cations inside the Fort.

Malta’s capital, a hive of cultural activity leading to Valletta 2018

MICHELLE ROWLAND MP

FEDERAL MEMBER

FOR GREENWAY

Proudly serving the areas of:

Acacia Gardens, Blacktown*, Girraween,Glenwood, Kellyville Ridge, Kings Langley,

Kings Park, Lalor Park, Parklea, PendleHill, Prospect*, Quakers Hill*, Riverstone,

Rouse Hill*, Schofields, Seven Hills,Stanhope Gardens, The Ponds,

Toongabbie*, Vineyard*Parts of

230 Prospect Hwy, Seven Hills 2147Ph: 9671 4780

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @mrowlandmp

www.facebook.com/mrowlandmp

Girls modelling clothes atlast year’s Fashion Week


Fil-˙ar©a tal-lum nissokaw bir-regoliu tag˙rif uffiçjali dwar kif wie˙edg˙andu jikteb il-Malti ma˙ru© mill-

Kummissjoni fi ˙dan l-Akkademja tal-Malti. Hawn g˙andna regola o˙ra.

IS-SEBA’ REGOLABejn il-vokali ta’ sillaba u l-vokali

tas-sillaba ta’ wara jrid ikunhemm dejjem konsonanti.

G˙alhekk jag˙mel ˙aΩin min jikteb:mia, dia, tarbia, g˙alia, mistoqsia, fia,mg˙ollia, dua, hua, stasia, ferneΩia min-flok mija, dija, tarbija, g˙alija, mistoqsija,fija, mg˙ollija, duwa, huwa, stasija, fer-neΩija, fejn kull wa˙da, li titqassam f’-dawn is-sillabi te˙tie© li bejn il-vokalitas-sillaba u ta’ dik li ti©i wara jkunhemm konsonanti: eΩ. mi-ja, di-ja, tarbi-ja, g˙a-li-ja, du-wa, hu-wa, eçç.Il-konsonanti li tid˙ol bejn il-vokali ta’

sillaba u l-vokali ta’ o˙ra, tista’ tkun h,kif tidher f’dawn il-kelmiet: deher, deheb,fiha, fihom, raha, bluha, kruha, sabuha.

Din il-konsonanti xi w˙ud jibdluhamal-konsonanti g˙ u o˙rajn mal-konso-nanti j u xi drabi ma’ w jew u metata˙bat wara l-vokali i jew u, u g˙alhekkdlonk isemmg˙u u jiktbu ˙aΩin: fig˙a,˙adug˙om, sabug˙om, sabug˙a jew ukollfija, ˙aduwom, sabuwom, sabuuom, sa-buwa flok fiha, ˙aduhom, sabuhom,sabuha.

Nag˙rfu g˙alhekk nag˙Ωlu bejn fija ufiha, bija u biha, g˙alija u g˙aliha. Fejntid˙ol il-j, il-kelma g˙andha x’taqsamma’ jiena, u fejn tid˙ol il-h, g˙andha x’-taqsam ma’ hi.Il-©ens mara ta’ fih, bih, g˙alih tat-tielet

persuna jissawwar biΩ-Ωieda tal-vokali a,b˙al minn bieb, kelb ©ens ra©el,g˙andna bieba, kelba b˙ala ©ens mara:g˙alhekk niktbu fiha, biha, g˙aliha g˙at-tielet persuna, ji©ifieri g˙al dik li nkununitkellmu fuqha, waqt li fija, bija,g˙alija, biΩ-Ωieda ta’ ja mal-partiçelli fi,bi, g˙ali, insawru l-ewwel persuna,ji©ifieri dik li tkun titkellem g˙alihanfisha.

IT-TMIEN REGOLAKonsonanti mtennija ©ewwa l-kelma,

dejjem timxi bil-vokali qabilha.B˙alma niktbu nsellmu, ngerrmu,

nrabbtu, mtenni minn sellem, gerrem, rab-bat, tenna bil-vokali qabel il-konsonantimtennija, hekk ukoll nag˙rfu niktbukelmiet b˙al dawn: ng˙allmu minng˙allem, ng˙addi minn g˙adda, ng˙abbuminn g˙abba u mhux nag˙llmu,nag˙ddi, nag˙bbu, ming˙ajr vokaliqabel l-ittri l, d u b imtennijin.

Fil-˙ar©a li jmiss nittrattaw aktar regoli

Tag˙rif dwar il-kitba Maltija

*Jekk trid tiççekja l-kitba, it-tifsir tal-kliem Malti u t-traduzzjoni g˙all-IngliΩissa tista’ tid˙ol fuq id-dizzjunarju tal-Maltin online. Is-sit huwa: www.maltese-dictionary.org.mt

nibjadtibjadjibjadtibjadnibjadutibjadujiibjadu

ni˙Ωienti˙Ωienji˙Ωienti˙Ωienni˙Ωienuti˙Ωienuji˙Ωienu

nitg˙attatitg˙attajitg˙attatitg˙attanitg˙attewtitg˙attewjitg˙attew

bjadtbjadtbjadbjadetbjadnabjadtubjadu

˙Ωint˙Ωint˙Ωien˙Ωienet˙Ωinna˙Ωintu˙Ωienu

tg˙attejttg˙attejttg˙attatg˙attiettg˙attejnatg˙attejtutg˙attew

JienaIntiHuwaHijaA˙na Intom Huma


PERFETT

BJAD ÓÛIEN STAÓBAMOD IMPERATIV

MOD INDIKATIVIMPERFETT

Verbi Mnisslin

TWIELED TQIEGÓED STAGÓÌEBMOD IMPERATIV

MOD INDIKATIVIMPERFETT

bjad bjadu

˙Ωien ˙Ωienu

sta˙basta˙bew

nitwieledtitwieledjitwieledtitwielednitwieldutitwieldujitwieldu

nitqieg˙edtitqieg˙edjitqieg˙edtitqieg˙ed nitqieg˙dutitqieg˙dujitqieg˙du

nistag˙©ebtistag˙©ebjistag˙©ebtistag˙©ebnistag˙©butistag˙©bujistag˙©bu

twelidttwelidttwieledtwieldettwelidnatwelidtutwieldu

tqeg˙idttqeg˙idttqieg˙edtqieg˙dettqeg˙idnatqeg˙idtutqieg˙du

stag˙©ibtstag˙©ibtstag˙©ebstag˙©betstag˙©ibnastag˙©ibtustag˙©bu



PERFETT

twieled twieldu

tqieg˙ed tqieg˙du

stag˙©eb stag˙©bu

Biex tikteb Malti tajjebIl-konjugazzjoni tal-Verbi (Mudelli)

Fejn g˙andha x’taqsam il-kon-jugazzjoni tal-verbi, Illum se

ng˙addu g˙all-a˙˙ar sitt eΩempjifejn g˙andha x’taqsam il-kon-jugazzjoni tal-verbi. Dawn ukoll

huma meqjusa fost

dawk mag˙rufa b˙ala Mnisslin. B˙al dejjem se ji©u wkoll ittrat-

tati fl-IMPERATIV u dak INDIKA-TIV, fl-Imperfett (li juri g˙emil lig˙adu ma twettaqx), u l-Perfett (lijuri g˙emil li twettaq).


Community NewsCommunity News

The Maltese Community Council of NSW is conducting a computer class at Maltese Resource Centre59b Franklin Street, Mays Hill 2145 NSW every Friday between 10.00 am-12.00 For more information

contact Em. Camilleri: 0409 744 376

The Malta Community Chest Fund

MALTESE CHARITY DINNER DANCESaturday July 23, 2016

6.30 p.m. - 11.30 p.m.Grand star receptions

499 Grieve Parade, Altona North. vic 3025

Tickets: Adults $65 Children $40includes 4-coure meal, soft drinks, beer & wine

maltese music - maltese brass band - raffle ticketssilent auctions & major grand auction

enquiries & tickets: contact daniel 0404 096 560; lourdes 0402

813 179; joe 0420 547 696. email: [email protected]

(donations also welcome)

Proudly sponsored by:

METD OUTINGS - 201614th August – St Maria Festa

(Central Coast)$35/pp including morning tea

11th September – Il-Festa tal-Vitorja

(City) $25/pp

5th October - 23rd Anniversary Luncheon

Please support the Maltese Elderly ThanksgivingDay Committee by attending our fund-raising ac-tivities outlined above. For more info, call one ofthe members: Lina: 9629 4046; Doris: 0419 420915; Maggie: 9621 3125; Maria:0431 800 720

email: [email protected] PO Box 93, Kellyville 2155

THE MALTESE GUILD OF SA INC.

MAY 14 – SAT.: Get together St Albans. MAY 15 – SUN.: Half yearly meeting – Parkville. JUN. 18 – SAT.: Get together at Holy Eucharist.AUG. 26, 28 (FRI & SUN): Feast masses at Croatian Church,Ardeer.AUG. 27 – SAT.: Dinner Dance at Melrose, Tullamarine SEPT. 17 – SAT.: Get together St Albans.OCT. 23 - SUN.: General meeting at Parkville.OCT. 29 - SAT.: Get together St Albans at Avondale Heights.NOV. 12, 13 (SAT & SUN): Concerts with Renato & Mary RoseMallia (Also featuring the Cittadini from Sydney)DEC. 17 – SAT.: Xmas function at Melrose, Tullamarine.

ST HELENA MALTESE/AUSTRALIAN S.C.: Events 2016ST HELENA MALTESE/AUSTRALIAN S.C.: Events 2016

La Valette Social Centre Inc.Festa ta’ San Ìorg Preca

175 Walters Road, Blacktown. Tel. 9622 5847

Email: [email protected]. Website: http://www.lavaletteclub.net

Il-Festa ta’ San Ìor© Preca se ti©i ççele-brata fiç-Çentru l-Óadd 29 ta’ Mejju b’çerimonja li tibda fit-3.00 p.m.

b’riflessjoni fuq ˙ajjet il-qaddis permezta’ film b’kummentarju bil-Malti.

Wara ssir quddiesa bis-sehm tal-kor ta’ La Valette u mbag˙ad il-purçissjoni bil-vara tal-qaddis.

Se takkumpanja l-banda Maltija OLQP.L-g˙aqdiet Maltin kollha huma mistiedna u

mitluba j©ibu mag˙hom l-istandardi tag˙hom.Dawk li jixtiequ jattendu g˙andhom jg˙arrfu lil

Frances jew liç-Çentru sat-23 ta’ Mejju.Tel.: 9622 5847

QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY LUNCHEON

Tuesday June 14 lunch served at 12.15pm at theMaltese Cultural Centre 6, Jeanes Street BeverleyLunch Menu will be on the radio and on

the Notice Board laterTo book your lunch: Have your name listed on the Book-

ings Book when committee members come around on Tues-day’s, or contact the President: Joe Briffa on 8254 6988 or

0421 791 327; the Vice President: Mary Craus on 82812329 or 0420 699 617, Rita Bornhoeft: 8248 1008 or 0401

860 632 or see anyone from the committee.

The Centre and the Guild Bar will be open from 9.00am onwards. ALL ARE WELCOME

In response to a number of inquiries,The Voice of the Maltese wishes to ad-

vice that we can now supply hard copiesin colour of our magazine to our readersat a price. So anybody interested in ac-quiring copies of the magazine can com-municate with us personally or by emailto: [email protected].

The magazine can also be delivered bypost. As the cost of postage varies fromstate to state, one is kind-ly requested toget in touch with us to work out the de-tails.

Readers can also request a printed copy of The Voice of The Maltese

magazine by post


Maltese Radio ProgrammesMELBOURNE, on 3ZZZ 92.3FM or onwww.3zzz.com.au. Mondays 5pm, Fri-days 5pm, Saturdays 10am.; LastWednesday each month at 1pm.

MELBOURNE on 98.9 North West FM,each Friday 6.00 - 7.00p.m. Presenter Em-manuel Brincat.

MELBOURNE: STEREO 974(93180930): 97.4FM Wed (Maltese Mag-azine) & Thursday (Mer˙ba): 6.00pm to8.00 pm Co-ordinator – Ray Anastasi

In SYDNEY, listen to the MCC radioprogrammes on 2GLF FM 89.3. Satur-days 6 to 8 a.m. Martese Caruana presentsNostalgia Music; Sundays from 10.00 -11.00 am: Il na Maltin. Both available ondemand. Follow same procedure as forMCC programmes, except select programein reference.

In BRISBANE listen to the Maltese Pro-gram on 4EB on Tuesdays 6.00 -8.15am;Sundays 4.15pm to 5.15pm

UNCLE SAM DJ (Maltese Radio) tunein to link: www.unclesamdj.com

Listen to John Borg & Glenn Cassar every Sat-urday at 1.00 p.m. on RADIO 2RRR 88.5FM oron the Internet - www2rrr.org.au ON DeMAND

The SBS MALTESE NEWS L-A˙barijiet on SBS TV twice a week nationwide Sunday at8.00 am on SBS2 (Chan. 32); Thursdays at 8.00 am on SBS2

Isma’ l-programm tar-radjubil-Malti mill-Kunsill Maltita’ NSW minn fuq l-istaz-

zjon 2GLF 89.3FM.Jista’ wkoll jinstema’ On De-

mand minn fuq l-Internetwww.893fm.com.au

(On Demand >Ethnic >Maltese Council 11am)

Il-programm ta’ sieg˙a nhar ta’ Óadd fil-11.00 a.m. ikun fih l-a˙˙ar a˙barijietminn Malta, muΩika, tag˙rif, kultura,avviΩi u su©©etti ta’ interess g˙all-Maltin

On SBS Radio

Day Time Analogue and Digital

Friday: 12:00-13:00 97.7fm SBS Radio 2Saturday: 14:00-15:00: 97.7fm SBS Radio 2

To tune into digital radio you need a re-ceiver or device with a DAB+ chip. Tuningin is by station name not frequency. Digitalradio can also be heard via digital TV.

SBS Radio 2 is on Channel 38.The radio programmes can be accessed on-line (live or catch up) at sbs.com.au/mal-tese and via mobile phone, using the SBSRadio app. For television news fromMalta - SBS 2 TV on Thursdays andSundays at 8am.

VIVA MALTAVIVA MALTA on COAST FM 96.3Community Radio in Gosford Central

NSW. Aired on Thursdays every fortnight from 6 pm -7 pm. Presenter: Nathalie Gatt.

Web streaming on: www.coastfm.org.au.

Tune In to Radio and Television


Day Care Maltese Groupsmeetings in NSW

Fairfield Active Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Tuesday of the Month.Group meets in Parish Hall, cnr of StellaStreet & The Boulevard, Fairfield Heights.Maltese Seniors Central CoastHave to contact our Welfare Officer foran appointment. For all information andreferral matters call Censina Cefai: 02439 000 12 or 0414 267 652Daceyville Maltese Seniors

Meets on the last Wednesday of themonth in the Meeting Room One, No. 3General Bridges Crescent, Daceyville.Note: The Groups also arrange regular Bus TripsJoin us and make new friends.

*(All Groups are Sponsored by The Maltese Community Council of NSW) with theassistance of Multicultural NSW. Please contact the MCC Welfare Officer: MarisaPrevitera JP on 0414 863 123. The MCC offices are at 59b Franklin Street (cornerwith Young St) Parramatta West NSW (next to West Parramatta Primary School).

Merrylands Social Maltese SeniorsMeets every second Friday of themonth; Miller Room, Memorial AvenueMerrylands from 10.30am to 12.30 am

Llandilo Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Wednesday of eachmonth at the Llandilo Community Hall,Seventh Avenue, from 11am to 1 pm.

Maltese of Bankstown Group meet 3rd Wednesday of the monthat New BCRG offices 15 Kitchner Parade,Bankstown NSW (opposite RSL Club).Every other 3rd Thursday they have anouting. For enquiries call Sam 9534 2357

Greystanes Maltese SeniorsMeets on the second Monday of eachmonth at the George Preca Centre ofOLQP Church, 198 Old Prospect Road,Greystanes from 10 am to 12 noon

The Sutherland & St George Maltese Group

Meets every First Wednesday of the Monthfrom 10:00am-1:00pm. Meetings/Get To-gethers are interesting, informative & en-tertaining, so come Join us and make newFriendsFor more information contact our Coor-

dinator: Charles Mifsud J.P.Phone (02)9501 5525 – mobile 0421 662 298.

Biex tipproduçi magazine b˙al dan, liwara kollox hu frott tal-passjoni li

g˙andna biex inwasslu t-tag˙rif lill-Maltin barra minn art twelidhom, majin˙tie©x biss xog˙ol u ˙in, imma wkollspejjeΩ. Biex jittaffew u˙ud mill-ispejjeΩnippruvaw insibu sponsors ˙alli jg˙inuna.G˙ad m’g˙andniex biΩΩejjed minnhom,imma bdejna, u ta’ min jag˙tihom ˙ajr. Kull qalb trid o˙ra, g˙alhekk in˙e©©u

lill-qarrejja biex i©ibu dan quddiemg˙ajnejhom u kemm jista’ jkun juΩawis-servizzi u/jew jixtru l-prodotti ta’dawk li qed jirrek-lamaw/jisponsorjawfil-magazine.

Kull qalb trid o˙ra

Saint Nicholas Festa Committee Forthcoming events:

SUNDAY July 3: Lejla Fil-Bus-kett & Car Exhibition.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 16: Fiera

SUNDAY December 4: The Feastof St Nicholas

For further information contact:

The President - Joe Fenech –0412 009 957; or thePublic Relations Officer - Em-manuel Vella – 0405 677 064

L-a˙barijiet tal-PBS (Malta)kemm bil-Malti u wkoll bl-IngliΩ

G˙alkemm il-PBS ta’ Malta tforni lill-SBS fl-Awstralja bis-servizz tag˙ha, il-qarrejja huma m˙e©©a wkoll biex x’˙iniridu jid˙lu fil-website:www.tvm.com.mtu jsegwu l-a˙barijiet ta’ Malta, kemmbil-Malti u

Il-website tkun a©©ornata l-˙in kollubl-istejjer u l-©rajjiet li jkunu qedise˙˙u f’dak il-˙in.


The Voice of the Maltese onlinemagazine is by far the most

widely read publication amongthe Maltese Diaspora, with sub-scribers from Australia, Canada,the UK England, Scotland, Walesand Northern Ieland), IrelandRep., Belgium, France, Italy, India,the Caribbean island of St Kitts &Nevis. But not only. It is also gain-ing popularity in Malta and itkeeps growing with every issue.

The Voice: The Voice: the most popular by farthe most popular by far

Learn

Maltese!

MALTESE LANGUAGE

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Classes are available for students from 6 years to adults at all levels ofability in the Maltese language. We have trained and experienced teach-

ers qualified in language teaching and with Maltese study credentials. Learn the Maltese language, the culture, lifestyle, cuisine, traditions and about the amazing history of the island.

Classes at: HORSLEY PARK - SEVEN HILLS - LUDDENHAM

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associations affiliated with the MCC of NSW. The Maltese Language School ofNSW is a Not-For-Profit organisation.

A Division of the Maltese Com-munity Council of NSW Inc.

14 ORIGINAL SONGS WRITTEN BY JOE APAP

• Jistiednu nisa u r©iel Mal-tin li j˙obbu l-lawn bowlsbiex jing˙aqdu mag˙hom,jie˙du sehem fil-log˙ob ujag˙mlu ˙bieb ©odda.

• Jilqg˙u wkoll lil dawk li jixtiequjitg˙allmu jilag˙bu dan l-isport. Dawnjing˙ataw lezzjonijiet b’xejn.• Jilag˙bu log˙ba lawn bowls darba fix-xahar fir-Rosehill Bowling Club u klabbso˙ra.• G˙al aktar tag˙rif çemplu lis-segretarju,Tony Pace-Feraud (0400 376 607) jew emaillil: [email protected]˙ba li jmiss nhar il-˙add 15 ta’ Mejjufis-1.00 p.m. fir-Rosehill Bowling Club.

IL-MALTESE BOWLERSSOCIAL GROUP TA’ NSW

CONTACT JOE:PHONE: 0402 089 555EMAIL: [email protected]

We can now supply hard copies of The Voice of theMaltese at a price, at any state. It can also be sent bypost. As the cost of postage varies from state tostate, kindly get in touch with us to work out the de-tails. Email to: [email protected]

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Adelaide United completed one of themost extraordinary stories in HyundaiA-League – and Australian sporting

– history by beating Western Sydney Wan-derers 3-1 at Adelaide Oval on Sunday infront of a home crowd of 50,119 spectators,the biggest for a domestic match in SouthAustralia.Roared on by a boisterous home crowd, the

Reds crowned an extraordinary season bywinning the Championship in their third de-cider just weeks after lifting the Premiership.After a predictably tense and physical start

the game exploded into life with two goalsfor Adelaide midway through the half byKamau (21) and Isaias (32), handing theReds a clear advantage going into the break.Neville pulled one back for the Wanderers

on 58 mins. but Sanchez made doubly cer-tain with a third for Adelaide (89).Winless and bottom of the league in Rnd 8,

the Reds under coach Gui Amor galvanisedtheir spirit, tightened up their defence andwent on an unforgettable run that reaped thePremiership in a thrilling final round of theA-League a few weeks ago. Then theycapped it all up by seeing off the Wanderers.

For the Wanderers’ coach Tony Popovic,this was his third season finale in four years.In eleven season finals only Sydney FC in2010 managed to win outside of their homestate when they defeated Melbourne Victoryat Etihad stadium, therefore as it turned out,history was once again on the home team’sside, and Adelaide certainly obliged.


Adelaide United win A-League Grand Final

Melbourne Victoria residents Rosemaryand Wilfred Mula are the new Maltese

Olympic Committee Representatives in Aus-tralia.

Meanwhile, a Lawn Bowls Organisation,structured with a straight down the line dele-gated functional responsibility is already inoperation and is set as follows.

For the moment John Zammit of Victoria isthe Convener and administrator responsible tothe Representatives in Australia.

Joe Saragozza of NSW is the National Gen-eral Manager, and has been delegated the ad-ministration and management of the TechnicalSection, with Joe Attard of Victoria and FrankVella of Queensland as as assistant Managers.

There are already 12 players with Premierand Commonwealth Games experience. Aninvitation isbeing extended to any of the or-ganisation’s members with similar qualifica-tions to join by contacting Tony Pace-Feraud:Tel.: 02 9601 2189 for more information.

Young Double Trap Shooter Nathan LeeXuereb (below) won gold at the ISSF

Junior World Cup held in Suhl, Germany. Xuereb, who was taking part in his third

championship in succession, produced ahigh level standard of shooting to first quaifyfor a semi-final shoot-off with Italy’s AndreaGalesso, which he won, and then win the forgthe gold medalwith a Britishshooter JamesDedman aftrtieing for first.

The Malteselad won theshoot off withthe same com-petitor with 29hits from a pos-sible 30 againstDeman’s 24.

Gold for youngGold for youngMaltese shooterMaltese shooter

San Ìiljan Winter Waterpolo League Champs

Spor ts s t a r t s h e re Spor ts s ta r t s h e re

For the second time in the club’s his-tory, San Ìiljan have been crowned

2016 BOV waterpolo league championsfollowing an 11-8 victory over Sliema ina decider.

In so doing, San Ìiljan also avengedtheir 6-7 defeat against the same oppo-nents six days earlier who on their parthad managed to force the decider.

On their way to victory and the success,the second one since 1995, the game alsoproduced a hero, Dino Zammit, whoscored five of the goals.After the presentation of the trophy by

ASA president Joe Caruana Curran, SanÌiljan have set themselves the task toalso repeat last season’s feats when theywon the summer league and the KOcompetition. This year’s championship (Summer)

campaign, opens on Friday, June 10 withthe clash between Sliema and Valletta.

New Maltese Olympic Committee Representatives in Australia

Adelaide United, the new A-League champions after beating Western Sydney in the Grand Final

Valletta FC celebrated the win-ning of their 23rd League title,as only they know how. Hav-ing won the title by virtue of

Birikirkara’s victory over outgoingChampions Hibernians the previousweek, and following the Malta FootballAssociation’s rejection of the Paolites’protest against the result of their lossagainst Birkirkara, Valletta played theseason’s final match against the sameHibernians without any worries. Theydrew the game 1-1 to wrap up the cam-paign four points ahead of their rivals.

The final whistle and the presentationof the Premier trophy gave the Vallettaclub and their supporters the chance tostart celebrating from the National Sta-dium at Ta’ Qali to the Maltese capitalin a feast that lasted deep into the night.

Valletta, under Paul Zammit who re-turned to coach them after leaving Bir-kirkara, did not start the campaign asfavourites. Despite winning their firstthree matches they did not look thatequipped to do much. They then suf-fered their first defeat of only four thro-ughout the season, against Balzan andalso the next one against Hibernians.

Valletta won the next four but theirform again dipped as they lost points ina draw with Mosta and defeat againstnewly promoted Pembroke to finish thefirst round in third place with 22 points,three behind then leaders Hibs and onebehind Balzan.

But as the season progressed, so did

Valletta and in the second round theycollected 31 points, dropping only twopoints in a draw to finish the first stagewith 53 points, three ahead of Hibs andeight better off than third-placed Balzan.Thus they started the third stage whenpoints are halved with a lead of just twopoints.

In the decisive second stage Vallettasuffered their fourth defeat, against Flo-riana but still garnered more pointsthan the other title chasers except Birkir-kara - 26 - to Hibs’ 24, Birkirkara’s 28and Balzan’s 18. Balzan therefore lostthird place to Birkirkara. All four teams therefore qualified for a

place in UEFA’s competitions, Vallettain the Champions League and the otherthree in the Europa League.

Bottom team Qormi and Naxxar wererelegated while St Andrews earned theright to fight for survival in a playoffmatch with Senglea, the third-placedteam in Division 1. They can escape thedrop with a win. For Senglea it wouldgive them promotion.

In Rd 8 of the PS4NPLthe Eagles of Parramat-

ta seemed to have re-gained their form with a2-1 away win over Bon-nyrigg, but then lost itagain in Rd 9 by losinghome to Hakoah 2-4.

Parramatta dominatedplay in the first half, butcould only score once,through Gosue Sama

(34h) who levelled after Hakoah had takena seventh-minute lead.In the second half Hakoah came out firing

scoring three goalsin quick successionputting the gameout of the Eaglesreach, particularlyafter a TomislavMijic own goal.

Two more goalsfollowed with thefourth one comingfrom a defensiveblunder, while Lu-ke Grima (87th) scored a superb goal forParramatta for a more respectable result.

A minute’s silence was held prior to thefixture in memory of former Eagles’ co-founder and president Victor Buttigiegwho died on Saturday.

In the PS4 NPL2 in Victoria Green Gully FCreturned to victory. After losing in Rd 10 to

Bentleigh 2-1, the regained form Saturday onhome ground beating Oakleigh Cannons 5-0that shot them to share third place in the leag-ue ladder with Heidelberg on 20 points.

Lambadaridis (65) scored their goal againstBentleigh, while Taseski, Boland, Christo-doulou, Krousoaratis and Ragusa got their tal-lies in the 5-0 win over Oakleigh.

In the PS4 NPL 2 East, Sunshine GeorgeCross just cannot find their feet and are stilllooking for their first victory from 11 outings.Rounds 10 and 11 have once again been quitedisappointing as they conceded four goals ineach of their matches, losing 4-1 at Dende-nong and 4-0 at home to Box Hill.


Spor ts Spor ts

53pts Valletta; 49 Hibernians;47 Birkirkara; 44 Balzan; 29Floriana; 35 Tarxien; 30Sliema W; 24 Pembroke; 22Mosta; 13 St Andrews; 12Naxxar; 9 Qormi

Final Standing from 33 matches

Valletta v HiberniansBalzan v BirkirkaraTarxien R. v FlorianaPembroke v MostaSliema W. v Naxxar L.St Andrews v Qormi

1-11-13-25-34-24-2

Round 33

RESULTS - DAY 9

Parramatta v Hakoah CBlacktown C v Blacktown SSydney O v WollongongSydney U v BonnyriggManly U v APIASutherland v Rockdale

DAY 8

Bonnyrigg v ParramattaRockdalev Blacktown CBlacktown S v Manly UHakoah v Sydney OlyAPIA v Sydney UWollongong v Sutherland

2-46-00-02-13-22-4

How Valletta won their 23rd title

Mixed fortunesfor Parramatta

1-23-21-11-30-33-1

Green Gully now third

Premier LeagueFinal day’s results

The 2015/16 season comes to an end onMay 14 with the FA Trophy final to

between 20-times winners Sliema andBalzan, in their first final. Sliema qualifiedwith a 1-0 win over Birkirkara in theirsemi-final, while Balzan defeated Pem-broke 3-1 in extra time in the other.

Valletta players and supporters cele-brating after the presentation of theBOV trophy. Photo: Christine Borg

FA Trophy final on May 14:

Sliema W. v Balzan

The Voice of the Maltese No. 127

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Transcript of The Voice of the Maltese No. 127