The Voice of the Maltese
(driven by the voice of its readers )
Issue 95
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February 17, 2015
2 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Australian High Commissioner to Malta H.E. Ms Jane
Lambert addressing the audience at the commemoration of Australia Day in the
presence of Malta President
H.E. Marie Louise Coleiro
Preca and Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr George Vella
Australian High
Commissioner
to Malta on the
occasion of
Australia Day in
Malta, says...
Diversifying population helps to
A
build Australia’s future
tese community has made its mark in the
business, professional, cultural, political,
academic and sporting spheres.
“These strong people-to-people links have
underpinned the depth and real warmth between Australia and Malta. We continue to
build on the relationship, and it was very
pleasing to reflect on the past year’s developments in expanding links in the areas of
culture, arts and education”.
‘
Strong people-to-people links have underpinned the depth and
real warmth between
Australia and Malta
‘
ustralia Day 2015 in Malta was
celebrated on February 2 with a
celebration hosted at her residence
by High Commissioner to Malta, H.E.
Ms. Jane Lambert in the presence, among
other distinguished guests and friends, of
H.E. the President of Malta, Marie-Louise
Coleiro Preca and her husband, a number of
local Ministers, members of the Diplomatic
and Consular Corps and fellow Australians.
The HC also delivered a speech in which
she explained that Australia Day is a day for
all Australians, either in Australia or around
the world, to celebrate their nation, and to
reflect on their history, on contemporary
Australia, on their achievements as a nation
and people, their disappointments, how they
improve, on the core values of their liberal
democratic society, and to reflect also on
what they want for their future.
She said that this year on this Day Australia welcomed 16,000 new Australian citizens.
Ms. Lambert added that on such a day
Australia honours members of the community who have stood out through their personal endeavours and experiences. She
mentioned in this regard Mr Virgil Bugeja
from the Friends of Australia in Malta who
was a recipient of the Medal for the Order
of Australia.
She said that this year, for the first time,
the recipients of the Australian of the Year,
the Young Australian of the Year, the Senior
Australian of the Year and Australia’s Local
Hero, are all women.
She was also pleased to point out that The
Maltese community in Australia has been
and continues to be one of the major success stories in the evolution of multicultural
Australia.
She said: “Over 164,000 people in Australia identify themselves as having Maltese
heritage, and more than 50,000 people left
the shores of Malta and Gozo from the
1950s and onwards to seek a new life for
themselves and their families in Australia.”
She acknowledged that the Australia-Mal-
She said that Australia would continue to
have an ever evolving and ever diversifying
population. “This helps to build a resilient
society, create a strong economy, drives
prosperity and builds Australia’s future.”
The Australian High Commissioner said
that Australia and Malta have also stood together in the dark times too.
She said: “Malta and the Maltese people
have been there for us during the wars and
social and political upheavals of the 20th
century, the nursemaid of the Mediterranean
and safe haven for those in need.”
She added that Malta also provided safe
haven for the thousands of people evacuating Libya in 2011, which included a number
of Australians, and again in July and August
of 2014.
Ms. Lambert went on to point out that an
important event this year will be the 100th
anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign and
the story of the Anzacs, the Australian and
New Zealand soldiers, who fought beside
so many soldiers in that terrible and costly
campaign. Many of the sick and wounded
were brought to Malta for care, over 55,000
troops and 2,500 officers.
She announced that Australia would be
holding the Anzac Day ceremony in Malta
on April 25 at the Pieta Military Cemetery.
In order to mark the occasion of the 100th
anniversary the Australian High Commission has worked in collaboration with a
range of Maltese cultural and heritage organisations to create over more than two
weeks a range of Anzac activities that look
in particular at the impact on Malta and the
Maltese people.
She confirmed that during the commemoration, there would also be visits by the
Young Endeavour Sailing ship, a replica of
Captain Cook’s ship that discovered Australia in 1788, and HMAS Anzac.
The Australian High Commissioner to
Malta said that Australia and Malta share a
commitment to the upholding of democratic
values, to human rights and equal opportunity, the rule of law, and to the promotion
of peace and security.
“We look forward to working together
with our Maltese friends and colleagues
here, and in international forums such as the
UN and the Commonwealth, to promote a
better and safer world for our peoples and
the people of other countries,” she said.
She concluded saying that while working
with the Maltese government on its preparations for its hosting of the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting, CHOGM,
which will be held later this year, Australia
strongly supports Malta’s objectives for
moving the Commonwealth forward and
looks forward to being an active participant.
The Voice of the Maltese 3
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Looking forward to
future with optimism
O
n the occasion commemorating brated their 50th anniversary since estabAustralia Day in Malta, H.E. Marie lishing diplomatic relations.
The President revealed that in the period
Louise Coleiro-Preca, the President
of Malta, the most distinguished guest at the between 2011 and 2013, exports from
reception hosted by Jane Lambert, the Aus- Malta to Australia more than doubled,
tralian High Commissioner to Malta, re- “which augurs well to the future of our
quested the HC to convey the heartfelt commercial cooperation,” she said.
She also mentioned Malta’s strategic pogreetings to the Governor-General Sir Peter
Cosgrove on behalf of the people of Malta. sition in the middle of the Mediterranean
Delivering an address on this occasion, the Sea and its connection to three major conPresident said that Australia’s national day connects seamlessly past and
present convocations, as
beyond any historical
event, it is mainly through
change and openness to
new cultures that Australia
managed to become a successful example of multiculturalism at its best.
She reiterated that Australia hosts the largest Maltese community of migrants, who more than half a
decade ago sailed all the
way to Australia in search
for a better future. She was
proud that albeit the difficulties encountered at the
time, the Maltese managed
Malta President Marie Louise Coleto establish themselves and
rio-Preca delivering her address
integrate very well in Ausflanked by Australian High Comtralia, which is mostly evimissier Jane Lambert and Malta Fordenced in the respect they
eign Affairs Minister George Vella
enjoy wherever they go
and their steadfast willingness to contribute
to the well-being of the country which
adopted them as her loyal citizens.
The President said: “On this day of celebration, I wish to convey to them in particular my best wishes, even because, what
Australia managed to achieve through the tinents that makes it a lucrative location
years, is in part also thanks to their hard from where business activity could perform
work and dedication in raising up good and flourish.
She delved on another occasion very dear
families which as we know constitute a cornerstone in the successful development of to Australia, ANZAC Day, saying that during this year Malta as ‘the Nurse of the
every society.”
Mrs Coleiro-Preca went on to say that al- Mediterranean’ would jointly commemothough geographically distant from one an- rate with Australia the 100th anniversary
other, the two countries nurtured close since the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.
relations through their shared membership
At the time, Malta served as a hub for reof the Commonwealth, good governance covery to hundreds of wounded soldiers, inand social connection devoted to migration. cluding Australian servicemen, by convert“While remaining faithful to their com- ing big edifices into hospitals, to ensure that
mon mission towards democracy, the rule the best assistance to the wounded is given.
of law and shared values, our common viShe believed that the 100th anniversary of
sion of the present and the future resolve to ANZAC Day would bring both nations togive added impetus to the already excellent gether to give homage to the fallen soldiers,
relations enjoyed by the two sides, prompt- as well as commit us against war and for
ing, further cooperation and exchanges of peace. She said that several Maltese-Ausin the form of investment and connectivity tralians fought side by side with the Auswhich are conducive to economic growth tralian troops.
and social well-being.”
In her view, the ANZAC Day commemoShe said that Malta is encouraged by the ration could serve as an opportunity for the
evolution of the trade flows taking place be- thousands of Australians residing in the
tween the two countries that last year cele- UK, to visit Malta during the time of the
Malta President on
bilateral relations
Malta-Australia
commemoration, and join in the service and
ancillary events taking place to mark the
day.
Furthermore, was looking look forward to
welcome Australia’s Prime Minister to
Malta, in November of this year when the
island will be hosting the Commonwealth
Heads of Government Meeting for the second time in a decade.
She said our countries are not only members of this important organisation, but also
promoters to its wellbeing and development,
adding that Malta believes
that the remarkable
progress which has taken
place since the setting up
of the Commonwealth is
testimony to the need to
continue building on the
success of this important
collaboration.
The Maltese President
went on to describe the
meeting in Malta in November as an occasion that
would provide a time-ly
opportunity for all members of the Commonwealth
to devise a road-map that
would render its efforts, a
more resourceful reality,
and an important voice that
advocates cha-nge.
“There is the need to develop the Commonwealth into a modern organisation, which will give further impetus
to its members to participate in a productive
and successful manner. We need to enhance
the Commonwealth into a stronger voice
that reflects the diverse yet enriching realities of its members,” she said.
The President believed that Malta and
Australia could play a major role in this.
“We believe that the Commonwealth will
continue to be a major player in the global
scene and hope that the high-level participation at the Malta CHOGM will secure the
necessary vision and commitment by Commonwealth leaders”
She concluded by saying: “As we gather
here today to celebrate the achievements of
Australia, I have every reason to look forward to the future of our bilateral relations
with optimism, confident that as has been
the case in the past, both sides will resume
with their pledge to strengthen their already
excellent rapport in the direction of discovering new avenues of cooperation. “
In the spirit of mutual friendship and
steadfast support towards common goals,
Malta President Marie-Louise Coleiro
Preca then proposed a toast “to the people
of the Commonwealth of Australia and to
the two countries’ common pursuit of peace
and security for all mankind.”
4 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Il-Mitt sena tal-ANZAC u l-importanza
tal-Australia Hall
D
in hi sena speçjali
g˙all-Awstralja. PajjiΩ
Ωag˙Ωug˙ fl-istorja iΩda li g˙andu fama ta’ qlubija
u ˙e©©a kumbattiva fejn
jid˙lu l-Gwerer. Dak mag˙ruf
b˙ala l-Jum ANZAC, li ji©i
ççelebrat fil-25 ta’ April, hu
jum mhux biss g˙aΩiΩ iΩda
mfakkar b’qima kbira ma’
kull rokna tal-Awstralja.
F’dan il-jum, jitfakkru dawk lAwstraljani kollha li ˙adu
parti attiva fil-gwerer, f’konflitti u ˙idmiet g˙aΩ-Ωamma
tal-paçi madwar id-dinja.
Dis-sena titfakkar ukoll ilmitt sena minn meta l-ANZACs ji©ifieri (Australian &
New Zealand Army Corps)
i©©ieldu f’Gallipoli fit-Turkija, fl-ewwel gwerra dinjija, mag˙rufa
a˙jar b˙ala l-Gwerra l-Kbira.
Kien fl-ewwel ta’ Novembru 1914 li
l-ewwel konvoj ta’ vapuri Awstraljani
u New Zealand salpaw mill-port ta’
Albany f’Western Australia biex
©arrew suldati lejn l-Ewropa fl-ewwel
gwerra dinjija.
Ma jistax jonqos g˙alhekk li kif insemmu l-ANZACs niftakru direttament fil-infamuΩa Ωbarkatura fl-ixtut
ta’ Gallipoli mitt sena ilu, fil-25 ta’
Kitba ta’
Lawrence Dimech
Ta˙t: Il-monument tal-ANZAC flArgotti l-Furjana f’Malta. Hu luniku monument tax-xorta tieg˙u
barra dak li hemm f’Gallipoli.
ng˙aqdet f’Federazzjoni u l-ewwel
konflitt internazzjonali li fih ˙adu
sehem is-suldati Awstraljani.
L-ewwel gwerra dinjija bdiet f’Awwissu 1914 meta l-IngliΩi u l-GermaniΩi
ddikjaraw gwerra kontra xulxin. Fl-istess sena l-Prim Ministru Awstraljan
Andrew Fisher iddikkjara l-appo©©
tieg˙u lejn l-Imperu IngliΩ.
Madwar 416,809 ra©el da˙lu fisservizz biex ji©©ieldu g˙all-Awstralja,
fil-ma©©oranza barra minn xtuthom.
minnhom kien hemm 8,700 li sfaw
mejta.
B’tant ©lied u qtil fl-Ewropa, pajjiΩna
Malta, li hu ©eografikament idejali
f’nofs il-Mediterran, sar il-post ta’
kalma, mistrie˙ u fejqan g˙al dawk leluf li sfaw vittmi tal-˙ruxijiet li kienu
qed jitwettqu fl-Ewropa u fit-Turkija,
l-aktar f’Gallipoli. Malta fet˙et mhux
biss qalbha iΩda diversi sptarijiet u
skejjel biex tikkura lil dawn l-imsejkna
vittmi.
Ma setax jonqos li waqt moviment
b˙al dan, in˙asset il-˙tiega li jigi mibni
post addattat fejn dawn is-suldati talImperu, li kienu Malta g˙all-mistrie˙,
ikollhom fejn jiltaqg˙u u jiddevertu.
F’Novembru 1915 inbniet g˙alhekk lAustralian Hall f’Pembroke, bini distint f’dawk in-na˙at, tant li fuq
id-da˙la mnaqqxa fuq il-˙ajt g˙ad
hemm il-kitba:
This building was erected in November 1915 by the Australian Branch of
the British Red Cross Society for the
benefit of the soldiers of the Empire.
G˙alhekk, fil-mitt sena tal-iΩbarkar
tat-truppi f’Gallipoli, dan il-bini Ωgur
li se jerga’ jissemma. Il-bini, li wara ttluq tat-truppi IngliΩi f’Malta kien fi
stat mitluq u mhux iktar uΩat ©ie impartat ma’ bini ie˙or fil-Marsa li l-Partit Laburista kien juΩa b˙ala l-kwartieri ©enerali tieg˙u.
Il-gvern ta’ Malta kien jin˙tie© il-bini
tal-Marsa g˙aliex qiesu ideali biex
juzah b˙ala l-post fejn setg˙u jinbnew
il-vapuri. G˙alhekk sar neguzjar, tpartit tal-bini tal-Marsa biex jintuΩa b˙ala
l-Malta Shipbuilding mal-propjetà li lGvern kellu fi Pembroke, inkluΩa lAustralia Hall.
L-Australia Hall f’Pembroke, b˙alissa bini mitluq
April 1915. Se ssir tifkira xierqa fidDawn Service f’Gallipoli meta 8,000
Awstraljan u 2,000 minn New Zealand
flimkien ma’ 500 rappreΩentant uffiçjali
minn nazzjonijiet o˙ra jingabru filPeninsula ta’ Gallipoli fit-Turkija g˙attifkira storika. Ma’ dawn jiΩdiedu
wkoll madwar 10,500 spettatur ie˙or.
L-ewwel gwerra dinjija kien Ωmien
sinifikanti fl-istorja tal-Awstralja.
Kien biss 13-il sena wara li l-Awstralja
Minn dawn 60,000 mietu, filwaqt li
152,00 indarbu.
LiΩ-Ωbarkar tat-truppi ANZAC filpeninΩula ta’ Gallipoli kien diΩastru
militari; it-truppi niΩlu f’na˙a ˙aΩina
minflok fi xtajta li minnha setg˙u
jil˙qu a˙jar lill-g˙edewwa. Fil-20 ta’
Diçembru 1915, ji©ifieri wara tmien
xhur ta’ diΩastru s˙i˙, l-ANZACs
bdew jevakwaw iΩda sadanittant
˙allew warajhom 25,000 vittma u
G˙al pagna 5
The Voice of the Maltese 5
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Obbligu morali li l-bini storiku
tal-Australia Hall ji©i ppriservat
minn pagna 4
Il-Partit Laburista xejn ma ˙a ˙sieb il-manutenzjoni talAustralia Hall u dan il-bini baqa’ jigi vvandalizzat. Sa anke
©arrab ˙ruq kbir li ˙alla l-post sempliçement qafas.
Il-Partit Laburista dejjem ried ibieg˙ il-propjetà lill-privat.
Kien hemm kwestjonijiet dwar kif sar in-negozju u t-tpartit
iΩda tul il-˙akma Nazzjonalista qatt ma sar xejn biex jigi
regolizzat dak li kienu jg˙idu li kien sar ˙aΩin.
Ftit xhur ilu l-Partit Laburista, issa fil-gvern, irnexxilu
jsolvi l-problemi legali li seta’ kien hemm fuq din il-propjetà, mhux biss l-Australia Hall u sar il-bejg˙ lil ditta privata. Mill-ewwel g˙alhekk jispikka l-argument, x’se
tag˙mel din id-ditta privata bl-Australia Hall?
Barra l-istorja, hemm l-obbligu morali li l-Australia Hall
tigi ppriservata u dan ˙add ma jinnegah. Il-Gvern Awstraljan, li permezz tal-Kummissjoni G˙olja Awstraljana f’Malta
jidher li qed juri interess, specjalment f’din is-sena tal-mitt
anniversarju tal-ANZAC, qatt qabel ma wera nteressa
dwar Australia Hall, anzi ddikjaraw li din m’g˙andhiex
valur storiku assoçjat mal-Awstralja.
Niftakar sewwa li kemm-il darba kien hemm interess
minn diversi sorsi tal-komunità Maltija fl-Awstralja dwar
ir-riabilitaΩΩjoni tal-Australia Hall biex idawru dan il-bini
f’çentru jew muΩew Malti-Awstraljan, iΩda min˙abba lkomplikazzjonijiet legali li kien hemm qatt ma seta’ jwassal
g˙al xi progress.
Huwa xieraq li f’dawn iΩ-Ωmienijiet meta l-Awstralja qed
tfakkar il-mitt sena mill-iΩbarkar tat-truppi f’Galliopli u lkefrija li rriΩultat minn din il-battalja stupida, ti©i mfakkra
fuq kollox il-binja f’Malta li tant offriet solliev u mistrie˙
Dan hu l-bini tal-Kummissjoni G˙olja Awstraljana f’Malta f’Ta’Xbiex
lil dawk li rnexxilhom je˙ilsu mill-mewt iΩda li gew feruti
u daqu l-ospitalità tan-Nurse tal-Meditterran, kif Malta
saret mag˙rufa g˙all-˙niena, konvalixxenΩa u l-g˙ajnuna
medika li offriet. L-Awstralja toffri l-biljuni biex iΩΩomm
il-memorja tal-ANZACs f’Gallipoli u pajjiΩi o˙ra fl-Ewropa
˙ajja; 50,000 suldat Awstraljan/New Zealander minn Gallipoli ©ew ikkurati f’Malta. Madwar 800 voluntiera Malti
˙adu sehem mal-qawwiet tal-Imperu f’Gallipoli u fuq kollox madwar 300 ANZACs jinsabu midfuna f’Malta. Fl-Argotti l-Furjana g˙andna wkoll l-uniku monument iddedikat lil ANZAC barra dak li hemm f’Gallipoli.
Na˙seb li wasal iΩ-Ωmien li l-Awstraljani jifhmu a˙jar dak
li tassew jg˙aqqad ukoll liΩ-Ωewg pajjiΩi b’riΩultat li ©abet
mag˙ha l-g˙aqda bejn iΩ-Ωew© ©nus, kawΩa tal-emigrazzjoni.
Virgil Bugeja, il-Malti li dis-sena ng˙ata l-OAM
F
ost dawk li ng˙ataw l-unuri mill-Gvern
Awstraljan fil-jum nazzjonali mag˙ruf
b˙ala Australia Day fis-26 ta’ Jannar li
g˙adda kien hemm il-Malti, Virgil Bugeja
ta’ 79 sena, imwieled ir-Rabat u li llum
jg˙ix flimkien ma’ martu f’San Ìiljan. Virgil ing˙ata l-OAM (Order of Australia)
unur mog˙ti lil çittadini Awstraljan u o˙rajn
b˙ala g˙arfien g˙as-servizz li taw u g˙adhom jag˙tu, u li g˙al ˙idmiethom ikun
jist˙oqq li ji©u onorat.
Virgil qatta’ 31 sena jg˙ix l-Awstralja,
1954-1982. Wara ©ie g˙al ftit Malta u re©a’
lura g˙al-sena u nofs o˙ra l-Awstralja.
Huwa kien ja˙dem b˙ala uffiçjal tal-immigrazzjoni f’Melbourne u wara anke fl-Air
Force u b˙ala mani©er f’kumpanija privata.
Wara li rtira u ©ie jg˙ix Malta kien hemm
okkaΩjonijiet o˙ra li rritorna l-Awstralja
imma biss fuq btala, ˙alli jΩur lil ˙utu, bniet
Virgil Bugeja OAM
u subien, li llum huma mejtin.
Lura Malta baqa’ attiv u g˙al seba’ snin
anke kien fit-tmexxija tal-gazzetta Le˙en is-
Sewwa, mag˙rufa b˙ala tal-knisja, jew talAzzjoni Kattolika, organizzazzjoni li kien
anke membru tag˙ha f’Ωog˙Ωitu, qabel emigra lejn l-Awstralja.
Huwa wkoll imda˙˙al sew f’Dar l-Emigrant fejn jattendi darba fil-©img˙a biex
jg˙in bil-pariri lil dawk emigranti l-aktar li
jkunu jin˙tie©u l-g˙ajnuna f’xi problema li
jkollhom wara li ji©u lura Malta.
Virgil huwa wkoll membru tal-g˙aqda
mag˙rufa b˙ala l-Friends of Australia Association ta’ Dar l-Emigrant imwaqqfa
minn Dun Philip Calleja.
Huwa qal lil The Voice of the Maltese li
kien kuntent ˙afna bl-OAM li ng˙atalu
b˙ala g˙arfien g˙al ˙idmietu fl-oqsma li
kien u g˙adu fihom. Ja˙seb li ©ie nnominat
g˙all-unur kemm mill-president tal-g˙aqda
Maltija, miç-çentru ta’ Canberra, u anke
minn o˙rajn li ˙assew li ta servizz.
A proud sponsor of
The Voice of the
Maltese
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6 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Family sues psychiatric hospital
over Malta-born man's suicide
T
Holding back the tears, Lena
reportedly said that she never
got to say goodbye to her husband. “He was such a gentleman. It's so unfair. This was
meant to be the holiday time
that we never got to do,” she
told the media
The newspapers reported that
hospital records have since revealed that without seeking
permission from the psychiatrist who had repeatedly ordered 15-minute checks,
nursing staff inexplicably
scaled back the frequency of
their observations to hourly
ones.
At a coronial inquest into his
death, a lawyer for Eastern
Health said he did not know
why this had occurred, but acknowledged that the hospital
had let Mr Falzon and his family down.
In further investigations into
the death, Coroner John Olle
became one of at least four
coroners in three years to have
raised
c o n cerns
about the safety of
Victorian psychiatric wards by calling for all hoshopitals to ensure
they were free of
hanging points and
other dangers for
suicidal people.
Mrs Falzon said
she was amazed
that when her husband asked her to
bring in some razors to shave with,
she could walk in
with the blades and
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the time, staff had
not informed her
will guide you throughout the whole process, a local partner with
that Mr Falzon was
extensive experience in dealing with Australian-Maltese nationals,
suicidal. "There
making the whole process as simple and eﬃcient as possible. That is
was
no care," she
exactly what we have been doing for the last four decades, earning
says.
a solid reputation as Malta and Gozo’s finest estate agents.
The family is now
suing the hospital
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for negligence.
Allison, one of Mr
Falzon's daughters,
a former psychiatric
nurse, said her father's death had
devastated her famt. +356 23 794 794 [email protected]
ily in many ways. It
www.franksalt.com.mt
has also shattered
he family of Maltese-Australian
Jimmy Falzon of Templestowe is
suing Easter Health, one of Melbourne’s largest public hospital services
that runs Peter James Centre, a psychiatric hospital in Burwood East, in the
Supreme Court of Victoria for failing to
protect the suicidal father of three from
taking his own life while under its care.
Two of the most influential newapers in
Australia, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, owned and published by the
Fairfax Media group, reported that in
2010, Jimmy, a respected salesman, fell
rapidly ill with depression and psychosis
over a few months. After living 65 years
without any sign of mental illness, Jimmy
became delusional and paranoid about
mysterious things.
At the hospital a psychiatrist diagnosed
the patient as a high suicide risk and ordered 15-minute visual observations, giving his family the impression that he was
in safe hands. But five days later, and just
hours after visiting him for the last time on
September 11, at 2.00 a.m. his wife Lena,
44, was informed by the police, that Mr
Falzon had taken his own life in the hospital.
Lena Falzon with a photo of her husband, Jimmy, who died at a psychiatric
hospital, with her three children
her faith in the mental health system,
which, she said, she is no longer able to
work in.
“Grief from a suicide death is unlike any
other grief. There's the shock of the sudden death, the unanswered questions that
will never get answered, the negative
stigma that surrounds suicide and the silence and lack of comforting support from
family and friends because no one knows
what to say," she said.
Anne Shortall, the family's lawyer said
the hospital had failed in its duty of care.
“My clients hope that lessons can be learnt
and policies changed so that this doesn't
happen to any other family," she said.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Eastern
Health said that it had taken Mr Falzon's
death very seriously and had changed its
practices and the safety of its wards.
The media said that 2010-11, Mr Falzon
was one of nine people to end their own
life in a Victorian hospital. In the following two years there were another 17 such
suicides reported to the Dept. of Health.
Organisations wishing to publish notices intended for the Maltese community are advised to stick to the
magazine’s deadline and submit material at least a week prior to publication.
Tuesday February 17, 2015
The Voice of the Maltese 7
For helping the less fortunate in the NSW community...
Lana Borg of MLCF nominated for
2015 Woman of the Year Award
W
hen asked to cook a Christmas
Eve banquet for Penrith's
homeless in November 2013,
Australian-born-Maltese Husband and
wife duo Lana Borg and her husband
Roger realised that there was a great
need to help the less fortunate in their
local community.
Mama Lana's Community Foundation
was born, and has been serving hot
home-cooked meals for homeless people in Penrith, four nights a week, ever
since. Lana does most of the cooking
herself, making more than 400 meals a
week in her little kitchen.
Lana has now been nominated by the
judges as one of four finalists in the
2015 NSW Women of the year Awards
in A.H. Beard's Community Hero category that showcases women who are
local heroes or volunteers who have
made an outstanding contribution to
the NSW community.
As the award recognises the outstanding contributions of women and
celebrates their significant achievements, it is already a great honour
for Lana to be named for such a prestigious from among an extremely competitive field of hundreds of women.
Now readers and particularly Maltese-Australians living in the NSW are
being urged to cast their vote in order
to help Lana win it. Voting has already
started and closes at 11.59 pm Friday,
20 February.
But why Lana?
When the bushfires ravaged Winmalee in October 2013, Mama Lana
pitched in by feeding the firefighters.
With the help of friends, she cooked
350 meals a day over a 12-day period
as well as cooking BBQ breakfasts and
dinners for the volunteers. Then in November they were asked to cook a banquet Christmas Eve dinner under the
bridge for the homeless and underprivileged.
After contacting Vinnies, Roger and
Lana organised to go down under the
bridge to “check it out”. From here they
realised there was
Lana Borg (with husband
a great need in
Roger) chosen as finalist for
their local commua 2015 top award
nity to help feed
the homeless and
underprivileged
and in just over 14
months they basically turned a
quick volunteer
situation into a
large, Non-Profit
Community Foundation delivering
meals four nights
a week supply
food and toiletry
packs, and clothing and blankets
to keep them
warm during the
colder months
ever since.
The Foundation
also assists Torton
Place Penrith and
the Ross Hutchison Foundation, as
well as other local
charities, hostels
and drop in centres. More reway she could care for them.
cently, they have been assisting with
Lana says that one of her life goals
crisis calls from people who need a
and an objective of her foundation is to
hand up with food, clothing, furniture,
let people know that there are others
and in some cases, financial issues.
Lana says, “We want to let these beau- out there who truly care, and want to
help them get back on their feet.
tiful patrons know that there are peoAs a result, not only does the foundaple out there that truly care and help
tion assist those in need of food, Lana
them get back their self-respect and
dignity so they can eventually get back also takes crisis calls for families that
can't afford to buy food, supplies bedon their feet.” We believe in kindness
ding, blankets and clothing and rewith no strings attached, and, with
cently furnished a room for a baby.
love and commitment, Mama Lana’s is
It was going through some hard times
doing everything we can to achieve
herself, including an abusive father, a
this.
failed first marriage and business, and
Lana's love of cooking began at an
early age. Her oldest memory is stand- Lupus diagnosis which inspired Lana
to start Mama Lana's Authentic Italian
ing on a chair, stirring the big pot of
Meals with her new husband Roger.
porridge on a timber-fuelled stove for
Her childhood love of cooking, which
her three siblings. Making their breakgot her through many of her life chalfast and school lunches were the best
lenges, has led to the success of Lana's
business and most importantly outHOW TO VOTE FOR LANA ONLINE
standing contribution to her local comGo to: http://www.women.nsw.gov.au/ women_of_the_
munity through the Foundation.
year_awards/vote_now_for_your_community_hero_winner,
Lana and Roger Borg work full time
find Lana’s photo and click on the sign “vote”.
jobs, have seven children aged 7-28
Then fill in the particulars as requested and
years old, one grandchild, six dogs, one
hopefully, when the awards are announced in
cat, and two strays that have taken up
March, she would be the one to win.
residence.
8 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Have your say/Xi trid tghid?
Your letters/ L-ittri tag˙kom ...
Maltese immigrant is part of
Australian mainstream society
The Voice of the Maltese
on
nlliin
ne
e m
ma
ag
ga
az
ziin
ne
e
o
is is a bi-lingual (in
English and Maltese) fortnightly online publication
specifically targeting all
Maltese living abroad
with emphasis on the
Australian scene.
is online magazine is
sent via email by request.
Subscription is free.
Editors:
Malta: Joseph Cutajar
Australia:
Lawrence Dimech: MOM,
OAM, JP
email address:
[email protected]
Letters for publication in The Voice either in Maltese or English should be
e-mailed to: [email protected].
Now you can also join us
on facebook:
https://www.facebook.
com/groups/thevoiceofthemaltese
Mary Mills from Wales, UK writes:
find the content in the Voice of the Maltese always invariably interesting, varied and
balanced and would like to thank the editors and all contributors to the newsletter.
I especially enjoyed reading the latest MV issue.
The February 3 issue highlighted the extent to which the one-time Maltese immigrant
is now part of Australian mainstream society; that is strongly conveyed in the reporting
of the celebrations on Australia Day, a touchstone for all immigrants.
As an immigrant myself, I understand that certain process whereby, over time, the new
country takes you to itself; it is on looking back that one can appreciate that, we have, indeed, come a long way.
And, whilst proper regard is due to the fate of indigenous Australians during the early
settlements, there is pride in knowing that, this now twenty-first century nation of immigrants has also 'gone native' - amongst them, the Maltese!
I
Abbott’s days as party
leader are numbered
Paul Debono, Fairfield, NSW writes:
O
bservers of the Australian political scene
believe that despite the fact that Prime
Minister Tony Abbott managed to win the
vote for Liberal Party leadership in his party,
it won’t take long before he is replaced, and
certainly before his term of office.
Abbott’s popularity among his own supporters is in decline and I am sure that the
61-39 vote in his favour to retain the leadership is a great blow for him. It was far closer
than he could have anticipated. To have twothirds of your party against you does not inspire the confidence and trust of voters,
particularly in his own party that is too divided for comfort.
There’s not much time for him to arrest his
government's slumping electoral fortunes,
and I agree with what the media said, about
him surviving the vote because of the combined vote of his ministry “bound by cabinet
solidarity, loyalty and personal circumstances to support their leader.
Australia needs a strong hand to lead it and
Abbott does not seem to have that right now.
CHOGM will be
good for Malta
Lawrence Scerri from Warrawong, NSW
writes:
I
t was great to read in the last issue of The
Voice of the Maltese that the heads of
State and of government (CHOGM) retreat
in November in Malta will be held at Fort St
Angelo, in Vittoriosa.
The CHOGM which is held every two
years is the Commonwealth’s highest consultative and policymaking body, bringing
together the representatives of 53 countries.
The CHOGM will bring much needed publicity to Malta particularly to the Three
Cities, or Cottonera, as it is known.
This year also marks the 450th anniversary
of the Great Siege of Malta, the battle against
the Ottoman Turkish Empire of 1565. It was
in the very same place in Fort St Angelo that
Malta fought so bravely and emerge victorious in defeating the enemy.
I hope that more people can appreciate the
cultural heritage of Malta putting it on a
global audience and that more restoration
will occur in this area with Fort Ricasoli and
the Cottonera line fortifications surrounding
Birgu, Senglea and Cospicua.
The Voice of the Maltese 9
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Have your say/Xi trid tghid?
Feeding the homeless,
P
less fortunate in NSW
/2
Congratulations!
Victor Cassar, from Marsden Park, NSW writes:
lease allow me to congratulate the MCC
in NSW for the excellent organisation of
the Australia Day celebrations and the Maltese-Australian community for helping to
make such a successive of the event.
Joe Borg from London, Ontario, Canada
writes:
W
ith so much sadness and negative
news in our media these days, I feel
I should bring to the notice of the readers
about an Australian-born-Maltese couple
who, at least four nights a week are voluntarily helping to feed the homeless and
less fortunate members of the NSW community.
Roger Borg, and his wife Lana are the
senior directors of the Mama Lana's
Community Foundation, based in Penrith
N.S.W. They do all the cooking themselves.
I am not talking about a hot-dog or hamburger, but of a full meal, with, on most,
if not all, nights, fresh fruit and desserts.
I would also wish to point out that Mrs.
Lana Borg has been nominated as one of
the four finalists in the NSW Woman-ofthe Year awards for which.
Meanwhile, I look forward to receiving
The Voice of the Maltese, which I do as
part of the Maltese Canadian community
in London, Ontario, through my good
friend Mr. Dan Brock, who produces our
newsletters here for the Maltese-Canadian Club Members of London Ontario
Canada.
Wishing you continued success and
good years ahead with the magazine, and
the services that you provide.
(See story: “Lana Borg of MLCF nominated
for 2015 Woman of the Year Award”...on page 7)
Fighting to preserve Australia Hall in Malta
Michael and Joan Cutajar from Springvale, Victoria write:
W
e are very pleased to see the fight
to keep Australia Hall in Pembroke is still on. Before Christmas, we
were reading about it, googled a lot of
information on it, and emailed Malta
HC Charles Muscat, the British High
Commission, Red Cross of Australia
and Australian Heritage.
We heard nothing from Charles Muscat, or the British High Commission.
The Red Cross replied and promised to
pass it on to the relevant authorities.
They were aware of the history.
The Australian heritage said it had nothing to do with them as Australia Hall
was overseas. We mentioned that Mr
Whitlam’s house was listed as heritage
but this was more important than that
and more relevant to ANZAC history.
Perhaps something will be done. Lets
hope and pray someone comes to their
senses soon and realises the importance
of this site.
Do we need a petition to raise awareness and funds to do this?
Dan il-progett hu sponsorjat mill-
CABRA-Vale Diggers club
Servizzi ta’ kura
multikulturali u
komunitarji
Anthony Sciberras
(Psychologist)
SEM I NA R
bil-lingwa Maltija
T˙ossok iddisprat u bla g˙ajnuna?
Imdejjaq?
T˙ossok iΩolat jew eskludit?
T˙ossok wa˙dek u ma tistax
tikkumbatti l-˙ajja?
G˙andek bΩonn min jg˙inek jew
titkellem ma’ xi ˙add?
Nhar it-Tlieta,
3 ta’ Marzu 2015
Bejn l-10 a.m. u nofsinhar fis-Sala
tal-Knisja Santa Tereza Kantuniera
Stella St u Boulevarde St
Fairfield
10 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Perspettiva
Id-Dritt tal-Vot tal-Emigranti
A version of this series in
English may be found in
the author's blog at:
http://www.ivancauchi.
blogspot.com.au
F
l-Awstralja dan l-a˙˙ar kellna xi
votazzjonijiet f'elezzjonijiet importanti f'qasir Ωmien - Victoria
f'Novembru li g˙adda, u Queensland
fejn il-voti g˙adhom jing˙addu. F'dan lartiklu, se nitkellem dwar proposta li
çittadini Maltin li jg˙ixu barra minn
Malta jkunu jistg˙u jivvutaw f'elezzjonijiet Maltin.
Din mhix xi ideja ©dida, u ©ieli kien
hemm min qajjimha pubblikament1.
Hija separata mill-ideja l-o˙ra li immigranti, rifu©jati u nies mill-UE li jg˙ixu
f'Malta jing˙ataw id-dritt tal-vot2. In
©enerali, f'Malta ma jidhirx li hemm
Kaxxa li fiha jinkunsens li xi wa˙da minn dawn il-postefg˙u l-voti f’kull
sibiltajiet ise˙˙u.3 4
elezzjoni f’Malta
Jien hawn se nitratta biss il-kwestjoni
tal-vot g˙all-emigranti Maltin.
Illum, il-Kostituzzjoni ta' Malta tg˙id li trid tkun residenti f'Malta g˙al total ta' sitt xhur f'perjodu ta' tmintax il-xahar, biex
tkun tista’ tkun imniΩΩel fir-Re©istru Elettorali.5 Dan awtomatikament jaqta' 'l barra liç-çittadini Maltin li jg˙ixu permanentement
barra minn Malta (b˙ali).
Ta' min jg˙id ukoll li riçentement, il-Kummissjoni Ewropeja
sostniet li dawk il-pajjiΩi li qed jillimitaw dan id-dritt lill-emigranti tag˙hom, g˙andhom ine˙˙u din ir-restrizzjoni, li sej˙itilha
b˙ala anakronistika f'dawn iΩ-Ωminijiet.6 Qalet dan g˙ar-Renju
Unit, li jillimita dan id-dritt wara 15-il sena nieqes mill-pajjiΩ ara kemm iktar japplika g˙al Malta!
Fl-Awstralja, tista’ tibqa' irre©istrat b˙ala votant basta tiddikjara
li be˙siebek tirritorna fil-pajjiΩ fi Ωmien sitt snin.7
Hija xi ˙a©a komuni li emigranti jitilfu d-dritt li jipparteçipaw
fil-proçess demokratiku ta' pajjiΩhom?
Il-gazzetta IngliΩa The Guardian tg˙id li hemm 110 pajjiΩ li
j˙allu lil min g˙andu passaport u jg˙ix barra mill-pajjiΩ li jivvota,
g˙alkemm hemm varjazzjoni kbira dwar il-kuntest fejn jistg˙u
jeΩerçitaw dan id-dritt, u g˙al liema tul ta' Ωmien.8 Dawn ji©u lma©©oranza tal-193 pajjiΩi membri tal-Ìnus Mag˙quda.
L-Istitut fuq is-Si©urtà, DifiΩa u Studji Internazzjonali jg˙id li
diversi pajjiΩi Ewropej qed jag˙mluha aktar façli biex iç-çittadini
tag˙hom li jg˙ixu barra jivvutaw, u jsemmi lil Spanja, l-Italja,
Franza u l-Ungerija, u wkoll pajjiΩi tat-tramuntana tal-Afrika
b˙at-TuneΩija u l-Al©erija li qed jag˙mlu dan.9
X'inhu l-argument bil-kontra?
F'Malta, hemm popolazzjoni ta' ftit 'il fuq minn erba' mitt elf, u
jing˙ad li hemm daqstant ie˙or Maltin jew dixxendenti tag˙hom,
tal-inqas eli©©ibli g˙aç-çittadinanza Maltija, li jg˙ixu permanentement f'pajjiΩi o˙ra. Meta wie˙ed jinnota li l-elezzjonijiet f'Malta
©eneralment, bl-eççezzjoni tal-a˙˙ar wa˙da fl-2013, jintreb˙u
b'differenza minima ta' inqas minn wie˙ed fil-mija, hemm il-biΩa'
li l-vot tal-emigranti aktarx kien jibdel radikalment ir-riΩultat.
Min hu Malti u jg˙ix f'Malta, u jg˙addi mit-tensjoni u l-©lieda
qalila ta' kull elezzjoni, speçjalment jekk il-partit tieg˙u 'reba˙',
ma jkunx irid xi riskju li “forsi kieku vvutaw l-emigranti konna
nitilfu”!
Din il-biΩa' hija ta' min jifhimha, imma aktarx ukoll li hija
esa©erata. Fir-Renju Unit, fejn l-emigranti jistg˙u jivvutaw sa'
˙mistax-il sena wara li jkunu telqu, ©ie rrappurtat mill-Kummissjoni elettorali li minn ˙ames miljun çittadini Brittaniçi li jg˙ixu
barra, ftit eluf biss kienu rre©istraw biex jivvutaw fil-2009.10
Din il-biΩa' tista' tisparixxi jekk ji©i kkunsidrat li mhux bilfors
kitba ta’
IVAN
CAUCHI
li min jirrappreΩenta lill-emigranti jittella bi proçess proporzjonali. Fi kliem
ie˙or, jista' jkun hemm distrett li jirrappreΩenta lill-emigranti kollha, bil-kwota
tiddependi fuq l-ammont ta' emigranti
re©istrati u l-membri li jistg˙u jitilg˙u,
li jistg˙u ikunu wie˙ed biss jew tnejn.
Ukoll dawn il-membri jista' jkollhom
limitu tal-poteri tag˙hom, p.e. li ma
jistg˙ux iwaqqg˙u l-gvern.
Wie˙ed ukoll spiss jisma' li ladarba lemigranti m'g˙adhomx i˙allsu t-taxxa,
u li aktarx m'g˙adhomx infurmati dwar
is-sitwazzjoni tal-pajjiΩ, m'g˙andhomx
jipparteçipaw.
Fuq it-taxxa, g˙alkemm dan huwa
veru, irid jing˙ad ukoll li ˙afna emigranti, speçjalment a˙na tal-ewwel ©enerazzjoni, ˙allasna taxxi fil-passat, ikkontribwejna g˙as-servizzi
soçjali u g˙all-pensjoni bil-bolla, fuq medda ta' diversi snin, anke
g˙exieren ta' snin.
Barra dan, hemm ˙afna Maltin li g˙ad baqag˙lhom interessi
konkreti qawwija fil-pajjiΩ, mhux biss ta' familjari li g˙adhom
joqog˙du hemm, imma anke proprjetà jew attivitajiet kummerçjali.
Ukoll wie˙ed ma jridx jinsa l-kontribuzzjoni finanzjarja li
ntbag˙tet matul iΩ-Ωmien, mill-Maltin emigranti lura lejn il-familjari tag˙hom, b˙ala sostenn fiΩ-Ωminijiet iebsa b˙al ta' wara ttieni gwerra dinjija u anke meta l-baΩi tal-IngliΩi kienet qed
tag˙laq, u Malta kien jin˙ti©ilha tg˙addi minn perjodu ta' transizzjoni ekonomika. Min kien involut jg˙id li din il-kontribuzzjoni kienet sostanzjali.
Jekk l-emigranti humiex infurmati tajjeb dwar dak li qed ji©ri
Malta huwa diskutibbli. Jien na˙seb li qeg˙din infettqu hawnhekk.
Jien irrid ng˙id li minkejja li nitkellem ma' Maltin li jg˙ixu
Malta, ma’ ˙afna minnhom ma tantx nie˙u impressjoni li g˙andhom informazzjoni tajba, g˙ax ˙lief jirrepetu il-linja uffiçjali talpartit tag˙hom ma jag˙mlux. Dawn ji©u kkunsidrati iktar
infurmati? Kull min g˙andu d-dritt tal-vot g˙andu jinforma ru˙u,
joqg˙od fejn joqg˙od. Min se jeΩamina jekk min jivvotu hux infurmat sew? U min se jeΩamina lil min jeΩamina?
Referenzi
Ikompli fil-˙ar©a li jmiss
1http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20061228/letters/why-cant-malteseemigrants-vote.31197, retrieved 23/1/2015
2http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/40221/should_migrants_noneu_n
ationals_and_refugees_be_allowed_to_vote#.VML_qDXRKPQ, retrieved
23/1/2015
3http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20070108/letters/why-maltese-emigrants-cant-vote.30296, retrieved 23/1/2015
4http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20140616/local/president-migrantsvoting-idea-jumps-the-gun.523576, retrieved 23/1/2015
5Kostituzzjoni ta' Malta, Sezzjoni 57
(6http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatnews/10605829/Britain-is-punishing-expats-by-denying-vote-Europe-says.html, retrieved 9/2/2014
7http://www.aec.gov.au/Enrolling_to_vote/overseas/index.htm, retrieved 9/2/2015
8http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/jan/22/irish-emigrants-voteireland-election, retrieved 26/1/2014
9http://isdei.blogspot.com/2014/07/emigrant-voting-rights-stir-debates-in.html,
retrieved 26/1/2014
10House of Commons Library, Standard Note SN/PC/05923, 2014, p4
The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
11
Qala-born Charlie Mizzi named
Kingston’s Citizen of the Year
ozitan-born 68-year-old AusG
tralian citizen Charlie Mizzi, who
lives in Clarinda, Kingston was one of
bourhood Watch,
Agricultural Society
of Australia, parks
16 recipients residents of Kingston to maintenance and
receive an award on Australia Day
spends at least two
2015 for his contribution to the city
days doing whatover the year. Charlie received the
ever needs to be
Citizen of the Year Award at the city
done at Ronald Mccouncil’s Australia Day Breakfast
Donald House.
held at Kingston Hall.
Presenting the
Kingston is a small town in rural
Awards, Mayor
Shire of Hepburn in Victoria. It was
Geoff Gledhill said
once a thriving gold mining town dureach of the award
ing the Victorian Gold Rush.
winners had tireCharles was born in the small Gozilessly served the
tan village of Qala and came to AusKingston commutralia in 1968 on board the Achille
nity. He thanked
Lauro. For a time he lived close to
them for their efMelbourne and soon integrated himforts in the commusel into the Maltese community. He
nity and
has been a member of the Australian commended them
Labor Party for the past 38 years.
for their good work.
For over 20 years, Charlie Mizzi has When it comes to
inspired others in the community with Charlie, the Mayor
his leadership and energy for involve- said: “Charlie Mizzi
ment in a diverse group of commiepitomises the selftees.
less attitude of so
Charlie Mizzi pictured aafter receiving
Charlie Mizzi has given his time and many of our active
the award from Mayor Geoff Gledhill
energy to anyone who asked for his
community volunhelp for more than 40 years.
teers. He does a fabulous job
volved in a number of community
Every week he does work for Neigh- year in, year out and is actively ingroups in Kingston, and in the wider
community. He is truly a person to
admire and is a worthy recipient of
the 2015 Citizen of the Year,”
Charlie Mizzi’s voluntary involvement:
*Ronald McDonald House Committee
for 21 years
*Oakleigh and Clar-inda Village Committee for 20 years
*Neighbourhood Watch for 20 years
*Parks maintnance
*Strengthening Clayton and Clarinda
Committee
*Senior Citizens
*Aviary Culture Society of Australia
for 40 years
After the award Clare O’Neil Labor
MP for Hotham in Melbourne's southeast, twitted: “So terrific to see my
mate Charlie Mizzi honoured today
Charlie Mizzi (in dark suit) celebrates
as Kings-ton Citizen of the year. A
award with well wishers
great Aussie!”
MALTA TRAVEL
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A division of Felice Travel Pty Ltd ABN 71 073 235 408
Licensed Travel Agent Lic. No 2TA4425
Join Charlie Felice on a Tour of USA West! Its all inclusive
- flight, top hotels, breakfast and dinner daily, transfers
and insurance! Only 4 couples left! Looking for a single
lady. First come first served! Call Charlie on 9631 2689
165 Dunmore St., Wentworthville NSW 2145
Phone: (02) 9631 2689 Fax: (02) 9636 5949
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.maltatravel.net.au
12 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Roundup of News About Malta
Government, Opposition disagree on
Court ruling giving PN two more seats
A
Constitutional Court judge ruled
that the Nationalist Party had been
deprived of two parliamentary
seats as a result of a procedural error during the counting of votes in the last general election two years ago.
According to the presiding judge the
mistake by the Electoral Commission that
had been set up by the previous administration and ran the general election, led to
lack of proportionality, as prescribed by
law, in that the difference in parliamentary seats belonging to the government
and the Opposition should have been
seven and not nine.
The ruling dominated the front pages of
the newspapers and reported the Opposition as welcoming the decision, and the
government saying it would contest the
ruling.
Opposition leader Dr Simon Busuttil said
that the PN had immediately said that the
result of the last election was not reflected
in parliament and now the court had upheld the party's position. He added that the
Electoral commission was duty bound to
respect the court decision and to implement the decision without further delay.
In its reply the government said the seats
in parliament allocated to the Opposition
after the general election was proportional to the number of votes given to the
Nationalist Party. It said it had a right to
appeal the ruling because it concerned the
way the Constitution was implemented.
Furthermore, in terms of the law and the
right to a fair hearing, no court sentence
could become effective pending appeal or
the expiry of the period within which an
appeal could be filed.
Dr Simon Busuttil reiterated that the
government’s decision to appeal the Constitutional court sentence was ‘an insult
to democracy, an insult to the people, and
an insult to the voters of the eighth and
the 13th districts’.
He said the government should be setting the example by accepting the court
sentence.
Nationalist Party MP Claudette
Buttigieg had failed to get elected on her
own steam by a mere eight votes at the
2013 general election and was beaten to
the post at the last count by Labour candidate Edward Scicluna. The same happened in Gozo with regard to Frederick
Azzopardi losing out by a mere nine
votes to LP's Justyn Caruana. Both
Buttigieg and Azzopardi still got through
short of a few votes.
Announcing it would appeal the decision;
the government said the Labour Party had
garnered a total of 167,533 first count
votes while the Nationalist Party obtained
a total of 132,246 first count votes.
“Mathematically this translates into a
clear nine-seat majority according to the
principle of proportionality. This is the
main principle of the Maltese electoral
system,” the government said.
It is for this reason that it felt that the
court’s decision removes the proportionality in the first court of votes that reflected the results obtained by the two
parties during the 2013 general election.
Prime Minister Dr Joseph Muscat said
the Constitution was amended some years
ago to ensure that the number of seats in
parliament was proportional to the number of votes, and had this case occurred
in the last legislature, when the PN won
by 1,000 votes, the government would
have collapsed as the PN would have had
a one seat deficit.
Private sector to be involved Malta marks centenary of aviation
in new strategic areas, PM M
ithout going into specifics, Dr Muscat said there are
W
strategic sectors in the country that needed reform in
order to become more efficient and to save jobs, Prime Minister
Joseph Muscat said, adding that there is need to introduce public sector involvement in a number of strategic sectors.
He said that the government would safeguard the national interest while the private sector would introduce new management and efficiency.
In his speech underlining the 'optimism’ which he said the
people in general, businesses and the country were feeling, he
said that prices and inflation were at a historic low, salaries
were rising and there were more jobs, while the deficit and the
debt were going down, as were taxes.
He went on to say that the country was performing an economic miracle, in contrast to what was happening in many other
countries, and the European Commission had praised Malta.
He also reiterated that next month the government would also
be cutting the electricity tariffs for businesses by a quarter, leaving €50 million in the country every year. The same power cuts
were given to families as of last year, leaving a further €30m
in the country.
“These were results which made Malta the best in Europe,”
he said.
Referring to a visit he made earlier to Berlin, he said Germany
would give technical help to Malta to set up a development
bank to ease access to finance for businesses, and that the Development Bank would also assist the government in major infrastructural projects that would also utilise EU funds.
alta is celebrating 100 years of aviation and commemorating the
first flight that took place in Grand Harbour during World War 1.
The flight was made on February 13, 1915 by Captain (Flight Cdr) Cecil
Francis Kilner of the Royal Marines Light Infantry at the controls of a
Short Admiralty 135 biplane. The plane took off from Ark Royal had
stopped at Malta en route to the Dardanelles.
To mark the event a low-altitude flypast of small aircraft was held Sunday
when started from Luqa and followed a route over all sites that in the past
served as airfields, ending up over the Sliema front.
Malta Airort with connections to over 50 countries
A
n in-depth study of all airports’ schedule analysis from CAPA shows
that Malta International Airport (MIA) has the third most international connections among 136 airports in its class, with over 50 destinations served in its winter schedule. Last year, the airport hosting just
over 4 million passengers, an increase of 6.4% on 2013.
Valletta 4th among Europe’s Best Destinations
V
alletta has placed fourth among 20 European destinations nominated for the 2015 European Best Destinations. The overall winner
was Bordeaux in France.
Over 21,000 people voted for Valletta from an overall 250,000 votes
that were cast. Malta also received a number of positive comments from
overseas voters. In 2013 Valletta placed seventh and in 2014 it was not
even nominated
Closure of Tank facilities at BirΩebbu©a
T
he residents welcomed the government’s decision to close down the
fuel tank facilities at Birzebbuga and transfer them to the isolated
site at Has-Saptan. This is being regarded as a major milestone achieved
for the South of Malta by this government after the previous administration failed to deliver on its promises.
The Voice of the Maltese 13
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Roundup of News About Malta
EU Commission Winter Forecast for 2015
Malta economy maintains healthy momentum
- Dynamic growth and low unemployment
I
n its Winter Forecast for 2015, the European Commission has ranked Malta
with the second highest rate of projected
economic growth and expects its economy
to continue to grow driven by the improvements in the labour market activity of
women.
Job creation is forecast to moderate somewhat compared to 2013-14 but to remain
robust at around 2% per annum, while unemployment is seen to remain below 6%.
The Commission also confirms that general
government debt ratio will decrease to
68.6% of GDP in 2014, and is expected to
decrease further to 68.0% in 2015, reaching
66.8% by 2016, thus confirming its confidence in the Government’s fiscal plan.
“The favourable macroeconomic climate
should help the budget deficit fall below
2% of GDP,” it was said.
Commenting on the publication of the
forecast, Malta’s Finance Minister Prof.
Edward Scicluna said it projects a sustained
fall in both the deficit and debt ratios, thus
boding well for the upcoming Excessive
Deficit Procedure decision.
The Commission’s report said that real
GDP growth rose in the third quarter of
2014 to reach 3.8% in annual terms, up
from 3.4% in the second quarter. This reflected strong domestic demand, underpinned by dynamic investment in the
energy sector and favourable labour market
developments, and to a lesser extent exports, which, albeit weak, continue to outpace imports.
It acknowledges that Malta is experiencing “dynamic [economic] growth” and
“low employment” in 2014, underpinned
by “dynamic investment ... and favourable
labour market developments”.
This amidst the sluggish economic recovery in the EU and the euro area, with annual
GDP expected to increase by 1.3% and
0.8% respectively in 2014. The Commission also remarks that these positive devel-
opments will persist.
Increased exports are also expected to be
reflected in Malta’s international trade position, where the Commission remarks that
Malta’s current account balance is projected to remain in surplus.
The government’s 2015 budget includes
mostly revenue-increasing measures, such
as increases in indirect taxation, fees and
measures to fight tax evasion. On the expenditure side, the budget envisages several social measures that are only partly
compensated by some restraint on public
wages.
Finance Minister
Prof Edward Scicluna
HSBC (Switzerland) helped Maltese evade
taxes on accounts totalling €607 million
R
eacting to the information released publicly worldwide by the International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists
(ICIJ) in collaboration with various news
outlets, and which pertains to HSBC Swiss
accounts as associated to account holders
from various countries, including Malta, the
Minister for Finance immediately initiated
a process by means of which he has asked
the Commissioner for Revenue to request
the information from the relevant sources.
ICIJ revealed that over €607 million is
kept by Maltese account holders in HSBC’s
Swiss banking arm, to help them evade
taxes at home. The amount was made public through an international collaboration of
news outlets, including The Guardian, the
French daily Le Monde, BBC Panorama
and the Washington-based International
Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
The HSBC files have been described as the
biggest banking leak in history, revealing
the full scale of malpractice at HSBC’s
Swiss subsidiary.
Although the €607 million is kept in 139
bank accounts that are held by 71 clients, the
maximum amount of money associated with
a client connected to Malta was €555 million.
Of the 71 clients, 34% have a Maltese
passport or nationality; 82 client accounts
were opened between 1982 and 2006 and
linked to 139 bank accounts. Most of them
were opened between 1994 and 1996, and
spiked greatly in 2003, when Malta became
an EU member.
The files feature people who figure in legal
proceedings, like Tancred Tabone, the former chairman of state oil company Enemalta, who is facing prosecution for
allegedly demanding bribes.
In a statement to the ICIJ, Tabone’s lawyer
said his client denies all charges and added
that he “has formally authorised the Swiss authorities to provide all that information. … His
fiscal affairs in that respect are in order.”
With respect to specific instances of suspected tax evasion, the Maltese Revenue
Authorities are empowered to obtain further
information from the Swiss Government, or
from the government of any EU Member
State, on the basis of the agreement related
to the Savings Tax Directive.
The penalties related to tax evasion are established according to law.
Isle of MTV in Malta July 7
T
he Malta Tourism Authority and Viacom have announced that the next edition (the ninth) of the Isle
of MTV is to be held in Malta on July 7on the Granaries in Floriana. The line-up will be announced closer
to the date.
This event that attracts around 50,000 people, most of
them youths to the Granaries has become an annual
event that also attracts a good number of foreigners and
the Tourist Authority has recognised that thanks to it,
youths travelling to Malta as tourists during the year
has grown by at lest 20%
Last year the main performers for the event that is
transmitted on Music TV station worldwide, last year
were Nicole Scherzinger, Dizzee Rascal, Kiesza, Enrique Iglesias and DJ Hardwell.
SUNNY’S CONFECTIONERY
The Maltese Confectionery Specialist
FIGOLLI - 100% ALMONDS
Figolli ta’ kwalita tajba
Please phone: (02) 9671 1863
14 The Voice of the Maltese
Il-Monti ta’ b˙alissa fi Triq il-Merkanti l-belt Valletta.. se jiççaqlaq
Tuesday February 17, 2015
F ejn il-Monti?
M
Dwar il-Libja Malta t˙e©©eg
g˙al ˙idma mmexxija mill-GM
I
s-sitwazzjoni fil-Libja Ωiedet
te˙zien fi tmiem il-©img˙a.
Wara li kienu di©a’ ikkapparraw
il-belt Ωg˙ira ta’ Derna, l-ISIS ˙adu
ta˙t idejhom ukoll Sirte, u fi tmiem
il-©img˙a dawn l-estremisti qatlu
21 E©izzjan Kopti li kienu ja˙dmu
fil-Libja bir-riΩultat li bi tpattija, lE©ittu attakkaw il-qag˙diet ta’ dan
il-grupp mibg˙ud mid-dinja kollha.
Wara dawn l-a˙˙ar Ωviluppi,
f’kummenti li ta, il-Prim Ministru
Dr Joseph Muscat filwaqt li sa˙aq
dwar s-sehem li qed ikollha Malta
ma’ g˙add ta’ gvernijiet ˙alli ssir
˙idma li tista’ twassal g˙as-sliem
fir-re©jun, spjega li dak li qed ji©ri
b˙alissa juri dejjem aktar li l-affarijiet m’g˙andhomx isiru minn pajjiΩi individwali imma kollettivament u ta˙t il-kappa tal-Ìnus
Mag˙quda. Sa˙aq li kull azzjoni
g˙andha tittie˙ed bla dewmien.
Il-Prim Ministru Malti qal li
g˙alkemm Malta m’g˙andiex irriΩorsi f’dawk li huma suldati u
tag˙mir biex jie˙du parti f’˙idma
mill-Ìnus Mag˙quda, xorta tista’
tkun il-˙olqa mal-©ens Libjan
g˙aliex Malta hi l-aktar pajjiΩ fost
l-imsie˙ba tal-Unjoni Ewropeja li
l-Libjani jafdaw. Mhux biss, imma
jekk ikun me˙tie©, Malta tista’
anke tg˙in lo©istikament.
Dr Muscat svela li minbarra lItalja, li fl-a˙˙ar jiem qalet li lesta
tid˙ol fil-Libja tipprova ©©ib issliem, issa huma interessati li
jing˙aqdu wkoll Ωew© pajjiΩi o˙ra
Ewropej, u g˙add ta’ pajjiΩi o˙ra
G˙arab u mil-Lvant Nofsani
f’koalizzjoni.
Qal li mhemmx tag˙rif li hemm
xi theddida g˙al Malta imma s-sitwazzjoni hija ta’ t˙assib min˙abba
li hemm ©emg˙at estemisti fuq lg˙atba u li ˙adu ta˙t idejhom partijiet mil-Libja li mhumiex
ikkontrol- lati miΩ-Ωew© “gvernijiet” Libjani.
Filwaqt li tenna li jin˙tie© li lÌnus Mag˙quda tie˙u passi, qal li
kieku l-komunita’ internazzjonali
laqg˙et l-appelli ta’ Malta u lItalja, is-sitwazzjoni ma kientx
tkun daqshekk ˙aΩina.
eta tara dwar xiex hi mitlufa l-aktar ilmidja Maltija b˙alissa, kultant tie˙u ftit
tar-ru˙. G˙ax ng˙iduha, li tag˙mel
©imag˙tejn titkellem dwar fejn se jitpo©©a l-monti
(open market) tibda tg˙id li f’Malta b˙alissa
m’hawnx dawk il-problemi ekonomiçi, ta’ qg˙ad,
eçç li g˙andhom il-pajjiΩi ta’ madwarna u dawk
aktar bog˙od minna.
Mhux g˙ax f’dan il-kaΩ partikulari l-kwestjoni talMonti mhix wa˙da mportanti meta wie˙ed iqis li
bil-proposta tal-Gvern preΩenti dan is-suq se
jispiçça fi Triq l-Ordinanza – ji©ifieri l-ewwel triq
li hemm hekk kif tid˙ol minn Bieb-il Belt (ma nafx a˙niex
ser nibqg˙u nsej˙ulu hekk wara l-bidla li saret f’dan idd˙ul).
Óafna jsostnu li l-Monti fi triq hekk qrib id-d˙ul tal-Belt
u tal-Parlament il-©did, aktar u aktar jekk sa˙ansitra dan
jokkupa anke dik il-parti ta’ Triq l-Ordinanza li hemm bejn
il-Parlament-il ©did u t-Teatru ta’ bla saqaf huwa sagrile©©,
tal-mist˙ija..eçç. Sa˙ansitra kien hemm min qal li Alla jaf
kemm hemm Maltin li qed ixerrdu d-dmug˙ min˙abba din
il-proposta.
IΩda mhux l-istess jg˙idu l-bejjieg˙a’ tal-Monti. Óafna
minnhom dawk li j˙obbu s-swieq miftu˙a. Il-bejjieg˙a
ilhom Ωmien jilmentaw li fejn huma tilfu ˙afna bejg˙.
Sa˙ansitra kien hemm min minnhom li sostna li mhux ilmonti kien se ikerrah d-d˙ul tal-Belt, imma propju l-Parlament, li ddisinja l-Arkitett Piano, li qed jag˙mel dan.
Sintendi mal-kor ta’ g˙aqdiet ambjentali, tal-kummerç u
o˙rajna, ing˙aqdet ukoll l-OppoΩizzjoni, bil-kap tag˙ha,
Simon Busuttil jg˙id li meta jkun fil-Gvern kien ine˙˙i
dan is-Suq minn hemm.
Busuttil qal li l-OppoΩizzjoni se ti©©ieled kontra il-Gvern
biex ma jinsultax il-kultura tag˙na u jg˙atti l-bini ta’
wie˙ed mill-a˙jar arkitetti tad-dinja. Sostna li dan it-transferiment “.... huwa Ωball, u qed ninsistu mal-Gvern biex
ma jag˙milx dan l-iΩball. Ûball li issa kul˙add jaf li sar
g˙al sempliçi ra©uni, li Joseph Muscat ftiehem minn wara
dahar kul˙add qabel l-elezzjoni ©enerali li jie˙u lill-bejjieg˙a tal-monti hemm, jekk jivvutawlu. Ji©ifieri bejn ilkultura tag˙na u x-xiri tal-voti, u l-poter u li jirba˙
l-elezzjoni, Joseph Muscat g˙aΩel il-voti fuq il-kultura
tag˙na. G˙alija, l-kultura ti©i l-ewwel, ti©i qabel il-vot.”
IΩda bilkemm la˙aq g˙amel din l-istqarrija, li l-Partit
Laburista ma xandarx itttra fejn kixef kif, propju lejlet la˙˙ar elezzjoni, eks Ministru Nazzjonalista, li llum jifforma parti mill-Kabinett ‘Dell,’
ikkonferma li jekk ji©i elett mill-©did kien
Gvern Nazzjonalista kien se jie˙u l-Monti
Triq l-Ordinanza.
Iffaççjat b’din l-ittra Busuttil ma ça˙adx
li l-PN kien iddiskuta dan mal-bejjieg˙a
tal-Monti, iΩda sostna li l-proposta ma
dda˙litx fil-Programm Elettorali tal-PN.
Fuq kollox issa hu l-Kap u hu ma jaqbilx
ma dan it-trasferiment. Allura jekk dan isir
kien ine˙˙i kollox minn Triq l-Ordinanza.
Sintendi l-polemika fil-©urnali hi fl-aqwa
tag˙ha b’min imaqdar il-pro©ett u min jaqbel mat-trasferiment u jg˙idu li fuq kollox
f’pajjiz Ewropej wie˙ed isib g˙add ta’
Swieq fi pjazzez fejn hemm binjiet storiçi.
Minkejja l-protesti jidher li l-Gvern se
jibqa’ sejjer bil-pjan tieg˙u. Nistennew u
naraw!
While visiting Malta Stay at:
The Diplomat Hotel, 173 Tower Road Sliema
Email: [email protected] Tel: (00356) 23497000
The Voice of the Maltese 15
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Mix-xena tal-˙ajja Maltija 2
Isiru 71 l-MPs?
Ma jistax
jindifen
f’qabru
’Malta g˙andna sitwazzjoni fejn
F
il-problema tal-Housing tolqot
anke lill-mejtin, g˙ax illum trid
t˙allas tajjeb biex jirnexxielek tikseb qabar fejn tindifen jekk trid tindifen f’qabar tieg˙ek jew
talfamilja.
Min˙abba dan in-nuqqas ˙afna
jkunu b’g˙ajnejhom miftu˙in biex
malli jitfaçça xi qabar g˙all-bejg˙ jaraw
kif jag˙mlu u jixtruh. Hekk g˙amlu
Carmelo u Josephine Abela malli semg˙u
li kien hemm g˙all-bejg˙ il-qabar ta’ Antonio Brincat li miet fl-1958.
Li ma kienux jafu kien li dan Brincat fittestment tieg˙u kien niΩΩel li wara li fih
jindifnu l-eredi tieg˙u, il-qabar kellu ji©i
ssi©©illat u ˙add aktar ma jindifen fih.
G˙alkemm il-familja Abela ma kienetx
taf dan, l-Awtoritajiet tas-Sa˙˙a, li jie˙du
˙sieb iç-Çimieterju tal-Addolorata, kienu
jafu, allura nsistew li kellhom jimxu mattestment ta’ Brincat u ma j˙allu lil ˙add
aktar jindifen f’dan il-qabar.
Is-Sinjuri Abela marru l-Qorti u g˙alkemm iddeçidiet li l-qabar kien issa tag˙hom, xorta tat ra©un lill-Awtoritajiet li ma
setax isir dfin fih.
Is-sabi˙a hi li dan Brincat kien g˙amel
it-testment g˙ax ma riedx li l-qabar tieg˙u
jitnaddaf (g˙al min ma jafx kultant Ωmien
meta qabar jimtela’ u jg˙addi çertu Ωmien
dan jitnaddaf billi l-fdalijiet jitne˙˙ew milqabar u jitpo©©ew f’post mag˙ruf b˙ala lkennirja.
B’hekk ikun jista’ isir aktar dfin fl-istess
qabar) u l-g˙adam tieg˙u jispiççaw filkennerja. IΩda xi ˙add ma li ma kienx jaf
bit-testment ˙alla li dan il-qabar attwament jitnaddaf.
Ma na˙sibx li g˙adkom ma smajtux jew
qrajtu dwar is-sentenza li ng˙atat millQrati Maltin dwar kawΩa li feta˙ il-Partit
Nazzzjonalista kontra l-Kummissjoni elettorali dwar xi Ωbalji fil-g˙add tal-voti fla˙˙ar Elezzjoni ta’ senejn ilu.
Il-Qorti ddeçidiet li ΩΩid Ωew© si©©ijiet
(MPs) o˙ra lill-OppoΩizzjoni biex l-g˙add
ta’ membri fil-Parlamaent jitla’ g˙al 71. IlPN irid li Ω-Ωieda ti©i implimentata immedjatament imma l-Gvern deçiΩ li dan
ma jsse˙˙x qabel ma ting˙ata sentenza
wara l-appell li g˙amel.
(Aqraw aktar fir-rapport tal-pa©na 12)
Arçipriet
boxer?
S
kont rapport fil-midja, g˙andna Arçipriet li donnu jidelitta bil-boxing, g˙ax
waqt argument li kellu ma’ parruççana xarbilha daqqa ta’ ponn. Din immedjatament
marret il-klinika fejn ©iet iççertifikata li
we©©g˙et ˙afif. Imma ma waqfitx hemm
g˙ax biç-çertifikat marret l-G˙assa u
g˙amlet rapport lill-Pulizija.
B’riΩultat ta’ dan, tlieta min-nies spiççaw
il-Qorti: l-Arçipriet min˙abba d-daqqa ta’
ponn, il-mara g˙ax l-Arçipriet allega li
kienet qed idejjqu
(harassing him) u
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li jivvutaw g˙all- Partit Laburista, 35% lill-Partit Nazzjonalista, u 4% lill-Alternattiva Demokratika. Kien hemm 17% li
ma qalux kif jivvutaw jew qalu
li ma jivvutawx.
L-ist˙arri© ma llimitax ru˙u
g˙all-politika biss imma ttratta
wkoll il-qag˙da ekonomika talpajjiΩ, b’ 64% jg˙idu li j˙ossuhom sodisfatti ˙afna, jew sodisfatti; 34% ma tantx jew
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dwar il-kontijiet tad-dawl u lilma filwaqt li 1% jinkwetaw
dwar it-traffiku u l-prezz talfjuwil.
Hemm 39% li j˙ossu li l-akbar
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16 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
A quick glimpse at Australia
A near
death
experience
A
n attempt for a spill in the leadership
of the Australian Liberal Party was
not successful however the Prime
Minister Tony Abbott (above) described the
ordeal as a “near death experience”.
The PM was put on notice by 40 per cent of
his party room. He did not expect the numbers to be that high. It is tough medicine to
take.
The PM said it’s like “looking over the
precipice”. The Liberals in coalition with the
Nationals where elected just 18-mothns ago
by a significant majority but they are enduring dismal polling figures.
A chastened Mr. Abbott declared, “I’ve listened. I’ve learned and I’ve changed” after
the spill motion that was brought on by two
rebel West Australian backbenchers, failed
61 to 39 – leaving only 12 MPs to change to
topple him. The vote showed the PM had
lost the support of almost two-thirds of his
backbench.
Many are predicting this will buy Mr. Abbott
some time until the NSW election in March
and the federal budget in June.
The Prime Minister said, “We want to end
the disunity and the uncertainty which destroyed two Labor governments and gave
you a good government that you deserve”
Like him or loathe him, Tony Abbott has always made an impression. Through various
stages of his high-profile career, he has been
known as a staunch monarchist, parliament's
“captain Catholic”, John Howard's “headkicker” and dubbed “people skills” for his
sometimes questionable way with words.
He once dubbed himself “the ideological
love-child” of Bronwyn Bishop and John
Howard. As a political warrior, he has been
a high-profile combatant for more than 20
years.
But even before entering the political fray,
Palaszczuk
confirmed
Q
Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott...
came very close to losing party leadership
Anthony John Abbott was a young ideologue, a boxer, a Rhodes scholar, a Catholic
seminarian and a journalist.
ueensland Labor leader Annastacia
Palaszczuk has been confirmed as
the state's next Premier.
In a brief statement outside Government House in Brisbane following a
meeting with Governor Paul de Jersey,
she said the Governor invited her to
form office and she has accepted.
An interim ministry was sworn in, a
day later
“It's an extremely humbling experience,” she said.
The Electoral Commission of Queensland (ECQ) finished declaring the 89
seats that make up Queensland Parliament at 2:15pm on Friday, 13 days after
the election. It is a long wait for a modern day election to be declared.
Labor won 44 electorates and will
have the crucial 45 to form a minority
government with the support of independent Peter Wellington.
Huge payout - Black Saturday
T
he Murrindindi-Marysville better
known as Victoria’s Black Saturday
bushfire killed 40 people and razed at least
500 properties in February 2009. It was
blamed on a faulty powerline.
Power company, AustNet Services and the
state government agreed to a pay out of
$300 million, one of Australia’s largest for
damages and personal injury claims over
the bush fires without admitting liabilities.
The weather conditions on the day were
some of the worst bushfire weather conditions ever recorded. Temperatures reached
46 degrees celsius with winds in excess of
100km per hour. Leading up to the disastrous conditions was two months of extremely low rainfall and hot dry conditions.
The fire started at about 2.45pm on Black
Saturday along Wilhelminia Falls Road in
Murrindindi near a disused sawmill, before rapidly becoming an out-of-control
inferno racing through the Toolangi State
Forest and Marysville.
Approximately 400 fires started during
the day of the Black Saturday Bushfires,
in the evening a cool change came from
the south west, although this did lower the
temperature, it brought winds in excess of
120km per hour. These winds turned the
long flanks of the Black Saturday Bushfires into large fire fronts.
The average speed of the Black Saturday
Bushfires was 12km per hour, however in
some circumstances the fires travelled up
to 600m per 30 seconds
A police task force spent two years investigating the blaze as an act of arson before
a review of the case deemed otherwise.
It was alleged the break in an electrical
conductor sparked the file, which was the
result of deficiencies in the power pole
however; AustNet denied the powerline
was responsible.
The Voice of the Maltese 17
Tuesday February 17, 2015
A quick glimpse at Australia
MP thanks NSW’s Maltese Community in
Parliament for celebrating Australia Day
T
he Maltese community of NSW was
mentioned during the Monday, February 9 sitting of Parliament in Canberra when Julie Owens MP, Shadow
Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for
Education & Federal Member for Parramatta NSW declared:
“This year I had the pleasure of celebrating Australia Day with the Maltese Community Council of New South Wales. The
Maltese community celebrated the day in
Merrylands at the Holroyd Centre with the
theme 'We are one but we are many', a fitting tribute to Parramatta and Western
Sydney's multiculturalism.
Dr Barry York, OAM, a Maltese historian,
delivered the keynote address, giving a fine
illustration of his family's experience migrating to Australia 60 years ago. The Maltese choir, directed by Marisa Previtera,
with 15-year old Maltese Australian soloist
A-Lee, delivered a fantastic performance.
Charmaine Cassar delivered a speech on behalf of
the Maltese Australia Youth
Committee. The future of the
Maltese Australian community is in good hands with
young adults like Charmaine. There were also a
number of Maltese Australian recipients of the
Order of Australia in attendance: Mr Sam Vella, Mr
Lino Vella, Mrs Doris
Athanasio, Mr Lawrence
Dimech and Mrs Nancy
Borg Serg.
Thank you to the hard
work of the Maltese Community Council of New
South Wales who organised the day - in
particular, Lawrence Dimech, the president - and the Maltese Community Council Australia Day Celebration Organising
Julie Owens MP praises
MCC NSW after joining them for Australia
Day celebration
Committee, including Emanuel Camilleri,
Marlene Dimech, Frances Montesin,
Charmaine Cassar and Marisa Previtera.
Well done and thank you”.
Govt overruled on boat arrival’s refugee visa
The High Court has ruled unanimously in favour of a Pakistani
asylum-seeker, saying the minister’s decision to refuse him a
refugee visa “was not made according to law”. It ordered Immigration Minister Peter Dutton
to award permanent protection
to the man, known as “S297”,
ruling the government could not
reject the refugee, who arrived
on Christmas Island in May
2012 solely because he arrived
by boat.
The case was not dealt with
until July 2014 when Liberal immigration minister Scott Morrison refused to grant a visa,
claiming he did not believe it
was “in the national interest” to
protect an unauthorised boat arrival.
The court found the Migration
Act stated, “exhaustively” what
consequences flowed for asylum-seekers who arrive by boat,
and Mr Morrison “could not refuse an application for a visa
400 days in prison
A
fter enduring 400 days in Egypt’s Tora Prison, experienced journalist Peter
Creste was released and returned home to
Australia. He was working for Al-Jazeera
when he was arrested December 2013.
Two other journalists were also arrested
following a trial that was widely criticised
as a farce by legal experts and human
rights commentators. The trio was found
guilty of aiding a terrorist organisation belonging to the banned Muslim Brotherhood opposition group and making false
news that damaged Egypt’s reputation.
The three Al-Jazera journalists were
among at least 16 journalists imprisoned
in Egypt, along with at least 16,000 political prisoners including activists, students,
unionists, academics and lawyers.
only because the applicant was
an authorised maritime arrival”.
It added: “It was not necessary
for the Court to address the validity of the ‘national interest’
criterion upon which the Minister relied in refusing the plaintiff’s application”.
I t was the asylum-seeker’s second time before the High Court,
having won a judgment last June
preventing the government from
sitting on his case without making a decision.
Greens senator Sarah HansonYoung blamed the government’s
“arrogance” for its breach of the
law, saying: “This man is a
refugee, he came to Australia
asking for help and it’s only after
being dragged through the courts
that the government will recognise its duty and offer him protection.”
“There was no need for this. It
was only the government’s own
hubris that brought them to this
loss,” she said
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, Pendle
Hill, Prospect*, Quakers Hill*, Riverstone,
Rouse Hill*, Schofields, Seven Hills,
Stanhope Gardens, The Ponds,
Toongabbie*, Vineyard
*Parts of
230 Prospect Hwy, Seven Hills 2147
Ph: 9671 4780
Email:
[email protected]
www.facebook.com/mrowlandmp
Twitter: @mrowlandmp
18 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Fr Edwin Agius, ir-Rettur tasSoçjeta f’Parkville jiççelebra lquddiesa fil-festa ta’ San Pawl
L-istatwa artistika ta’ San Pawl
f’Parkville
Il-Festa tan-Nawfra©ju
ta’ missierna San Pawl
Iççelebrata f’Parkville
I
s-Soçjeta` Missjunarja ta’ San Pawl
flimkien mall-Kunsill Malti ta’ Victoria organizzaw il-Festa tan-Nawfra©ju ta’ San Pawl fil-Kappella ta’ San
Pawl, f’Parkville, nhar it-Tnejn, 9 ta’
Frar, jum qabel il-festa proprja.
Il-festa ©iet iççelebrata b’Quddiesa
mir-Rettur tas-Soçjeta` f’Parkville, Fr
Edwin Agius, mssp fil-preΩenza ta’
g˙add ta’ devoti. Il-qari sar minn Paul
Borg u George Saliba, filwaqt li Fr Agius g˙amel ukoll l-omelija u tkellem
dwar il-vja©© ta’ San Pawl lejn Ruma
fuq ©ifen li nkalja b’276 ru˙ fuqu ma’
skoll f’Malta, u kif San Pawl wassal ilfidi ta’ Kristu lill-©ens Malti.
Fil-kappella issa hemm statwa mdaqqsa artistika ta’ San Pawl li g˙andha
storja sabi˙a. Fr Edwin Agius u Freddie Asciak spjegawli kif l-istatwa waslet f’dil-kappella. Qaluli li originarjament din waslet f’Melbourne minn
Malta u tpo©©iet fil-Knisja ta’ St. Bernadette, f’North Sunshine. Qaluli li lMaltin kienu ˙adu gost bl-istatwa,
filwaqt li l-parruççani IrlandiΩi kienu ja˙sbuh San Patrizju g˙ax ma ndunawx
mill-ewwel bis-sejf u l-lifa`.
Aktar tard l-istatwa ttie˙det fil-parroçça ta’ Norlane, qrib Geelong, li
kienet titmexxa mill-kappillan Fr
Gambin. Meta sar kappillan Fr Ray
Zammit, ˙aseb li min˙abba li l-parroçça ta’ Norlane ma kienetx tas-Soçjeta`, jkun a˙jar li l-istatwa tittie˙ed
fil-kappella tal-mssp, f’Parkville.
Freddie Asciak ˙a ˙sieb li jir-
restawraha u jirrran©a s-sejf u l-lifa` li
˙tie©u xi tiswijiet. Issa l-istatwa ta’ San
Pawl g˙andha postha fil-Kappella ta’
San Pawl, f’Parkville.
Qaluli wkoll li x-xemg˙a ta’ quddiem
l-istatwa ng˙atat b˙ala rigal meta “dDrieg˙ ta’ San Pawl” in©ieb wara çÇentinarju tal-1960 li kien imfakkar
f’Malta
Paul Vella (Melbourne)
Young singer Kayla Piscopo wins Star Search 2015
K
ayla Jo Piscopo (right), the 15-year-old singer from Cecil
Hills has won The Star Search 2015 at Warringah Mall Star
Search. Her prize included a cheque for $1500 and a Trophy.
Kayla had to go through the heats in January before qualifying for the final on January 24.
Last year Kayla was also featured in The Voice of the Maltese (No. 84) when she qualified for the final round of the
Sydney Eisteddfod Junior Contemporary Singer of the Year
title at the Petersham RSL Club.
Those knowKayla (fourth from left) with her sister Chloe (third left) ing Kayla dethe judges who voted her The Star Search for 2015
scribe her as a
quiet and reserved girl,
who has always struggled with her
confidence.
That is, until she sings. Having had singing
lessons since she was nine, Kayla Jo is now
a regular in singing competitions around Sydney, and has won her fair share of trophies.
She also plays bass guitar and piano and is
often encouraged by her mother to sing with
her sisters who would eventually love to start
their own group.
Aside of her singing and music, young
Kayla has inherited her father's love for
1960's muscle cars and plans to buy one of
her own once she earns her first million dollars, along with a beach house and a horse.
The Voice of the Maltese 19
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Don Bosco bi-centenary year (1815-2015) commemoration
A feast day with a diﬀerence
at St Mary’s
O
n February 1, the Maltese Past Pupils
& Friends of Don Bosco NSW organised a successful feast day for the saint
at St Marys Parish. It was a feast day with a
difference as for the first time the Association
moved the statue of Don Bosco from Horsley
Park to St Marys to commemorate the 200
years since the birth of Don Bosco.
There is a strong Salesian presence at St
Marys. Besides the parish, since 1990 the
Salesians have been running a Don Bosco
Youth Centre. There is also a primary school
and a community hall, all located at
Swanston Street, St Marys
The feast day started with a Mass in the
morning concelebrated by the rector of the
Salesian community, Fr. Shane Reade. He
was also the homilist. Frs. Brendan Murphy,
John Walenciej, Jerry Breen and Carmelo
Sciberras, our spiritual director concelebrated with Shane Reade. Fr Guy Riolo
joined in the youth choir.
Among the parishioners were past pupils
from the Philippines, Vietnam, Samoa and
South Sudan. After Mass, there was a short
procession around the grounds of the
church, a task that took careful planning and
co-ordination by two of veteran mem- hall for a light lunch, tea and cofbers of the association, Emanuel Zam- fee. Retiring Fr Jerry Breen SDB,
mit and Sam Gatt.
an octogenarian, will be moving
The statue bearers were Emanuel Za- to Melbourne and he was fare
mmit, Sam Gatt, Lino Cini and Terry welled with a large cake and conFenech while the forcina bearers were, gratulations from all present. He
Charlie Muscat, Sam Zammit, George thanked those present for making
Grech, Joe White and George Grech.
his time among them very enjoyThe flag bearers, co-ordinated by Vic- able.
tor Grech, marched in front of the
The NSW association has thus
statue. They were Doris Spiteri (Asso- made the first step of liaising
ciation flag), Josephine Gatt (Australian more closely with the Salesian
flag), Antonia Galea (Maltese flag), community at St Marys. The feast
Christine Sapienza (Papal flag) and Vic- day was shared with a wider
tor Fenech (Bandalora). Parishioners number of parishioners and past
followed. Hymns were sung thus mak- pupils of other nationalities, for
ing the procession a devout festive oc- the greater glory of Don Bosco.
casion.
Afterwards, all gathered in the Parish
Mark Caruana
The procession with the
statute of Don Bosco
MCC Oral history project - Maltese Personalities
I
n order to preserve our Maltese-Australian
heritage for posterity, the MCC of
NSW has embarked on videorecording the settlement experiences
of Maltese personalities.
The oral history interviews are con-
ducted in English on Wednesdays
mornings. The time taken varies
from 60-90 minutes and are done by
Mark Caruana, who has been doing
such interviews since 1982.
At the end of the interview, the person interviewed is asked to do any
necessary editing and to furnish four
photos to be included in the DVD
cover.
The MCC will produce seven DVDs,
five of which go to the family, one to
the MCC Archives and one to the National Library in Canberra. A donation of $50 to cover costs would be
appreciated.
Anybody wishing to have his settlement history recorded, is requested to
contact Emanuel Camilleri on 9822
0228.
20 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Il-Makkjetta Maltija:
Û
L-istorja tag˙ha fil-qosor u minn fejn ©iet
gur li xi darba jew o˙ra forsi smajtu xi makkjetta waqt xi il-muΩika, x’aktarx ipprovduta minn
lejla tal-g˙ana, xi programm varjat teatrali, jew fuq irorkestra Ωg˙ira. Il-makkjettist kien
radju, u kantajtu mag˙ha. Imma forsi ma kontux tafu li
kwaΩi jitkellem, imma fl-istess ˙in
din it-tip ta’ kanzunetta / g˙anja jsej˙ulha b’dan l-isem. FiliΩomm ritmu kostanti mal-muΩika li
kuntest Malti jidher li l-makkejtta hija l-wild tal-ewwel attivi- qed tikkompanjah.
tajiet teatrali popolari (it-teatrin) li kienu jsiru fl-ir˙ula u
L-aktar ˙a©a importanti ma kinitx
fl-ibliet madwar Malta u G˙awdex. Aktar tard din kompliet
il-muΩika imma fil-mod kif l-attur
ting˙ata spinta fl-ewwel diski li ©ew irrekordjati f’Malta fliwassal il-messa©© tieg˙u, li xi drabi
Ettore Petrolini
ewwel snin tat-tletinijiet u mbag˙ad min-nofs il-˙amsinijiet
mhux biss kien ikun umoristiku imma
’il quddiem.
anke ironiku, u b’hekk dan kien jinvolvi ˙afna mossi b’idejh u
Qabelxejn ejjew naraw daqsxejn minn fejn ˙adna din ilbil-fattizzi ta’ wiççu. Wie˙ed mill-aktar popolari g˙al dan ixkelma.
xog˙ol kien il-bravu Ettore Petrolini.
Il-kelma makkjetta mal-ewwel tfakkarna filF’Malta, aktar lejn Ωmienna, x’aktarx li l-aktar
kelma macchietta bit-Taljan li tfisser tebg˙a
bniedem mag˙ruf ghall-makkjetti kien l-attur
Ωg˙ira. Madanakollu fil-qasam teatrali Taljan ilkomiku u ©urnalist Charles Clews, li jibqa’
kelma macchietta, li n˙olqot lejn l-a˙˙ar tasmagħruf għall-umoriżmu nadif tiegħu kemm filseklu dsatax u s-seklu g˙oxrin, tfisser
ġurnali kif ukoll fuq il-palk.
il-˙olqien ta’ karikatura minn attur komiku li
Kien wieħed mill-kontributuri ewlenin tar-radju,
x’aktarx dejjem tiffoka fuq xi karattru partikokarriera li beda permezz tar-Rediffusion. Huwa
lari, ng˙idu a˙na xi politikant jew qassis.
kiseb fama nazzjonali bir-Radio Muskettieri u lDin il-karikatura dejjem kienet tie˙u xe˙ta
iStage Commandos Variety Company li tagħhom
komika, differenti min-norma tas-soltu u sikwit
kien ko-fundatur u li bihom fl-1945 il-kummiedja
lesta biex ta˙sad u tkun sarkastika. M’g˙andħadet xejra ġdida u nfirxet fit-teatri ewlenin talniex xi ng˙idu li din il-karikatura kienet tkun ibgżejjer.
baΩata fuq persuna veru u kien xog˙ol tal-attur
Charles twieled fis-27 ta’ Settembru 1919 fl-Isla
komiku li jirreçtaha b’mod umoristiku.
u miet fid-29 ta’ Jannar 2009.
Il-makkjetta Taljana dejjem kienet tinqeda bilHemm ˙afna xi tg˙id dwar Charles Clews u aktar
Charles Clews
kant u l-parlant u b˙ala sfond kien ikollha bΩonn
‘l quddiem nag˙mlu wkoll il-profil tieg˙u.
L-Alfabet: Kont taf?...
l-a˙˙ar ˙ar©a semmejna li fil-Malti
Fa) l-konsonanti
jistg˙u jkunu:
Xemxin jew Qamrin; b) S˙a˙ jew
Dg˙ajfin; ç) Rotob jew Qawwija, u
d) Likwidi
Tajna wkoll xi eΩempji dwar ixXemxin u l-Qamrin. Illum se naraw se
nittrattaw xi eΩempji ta’ dawk
mag˙rufa b˙ala S˙a˙ jew Dg˙ajfin,
Rotob jew Qawwija, u Likwidi.
Is-S˙a˙ huma 22, ji©ifieri l-konsonanti
kollha minbarra l-j u l-w. Dawn jissej˙u hekk min˙aba li ma jinbidlux.
EΩ. Ωfin mhux sfin; kbar mhux gbar
(kliem semitiku biss)
Id-Dg˙ajfin huma tnejn: j, w. Jissej˙u
hekk g˙ax jistg˙u jinbidlu.EΩ.: hu
j˙obb iΩda kien i˙obb; inti Ωint iΩda kif
uΩint.
Ir-Rotob huma tmienja: p, t, ç, x, l,
˙, f u s. l-konsonanti dg˙ajfin huma
tnejn:il- j, u l-w. Jissej˙u hekk g˙ax
jitlissnu bil-˙lewwa. EΩ.: pupa, tieqa,
çerva, xita, Kejk, ˙elu, festa, Sid.
Il-Qawwija huma wkoll tmienja; b,
d, ©, g, g˙, h, v, u Ω. Jissej˙u hekk
g˙ax jitlissnu bil-qawwa. EΩ.: ba˙ri,
darsa, ©ebla, gawwi, qieg˙, fih, vit,
Ωejt.
Il-Likwidi huma ˙amsa: l, m, n, r, g˙.
Jissej˙u hekk min˙abba li jitolbu lvokali tal-le˙en meta jkunu sejrin
jit˙axknu bejn Ωew© konsonanti
o˙ra. Ez.” itlaq iΩda itilqu mhux itlqu
bhal ift˙u.
Aktar dwar l-ittri tal-alfabet fil-˙ar©a
li jmiss.
U˙ud mit-tag˙rif ta’ fuq hu me˙ud minn le˙˙ il-Malti
tad-Dipartiment tal-Malti fi ˙dan il-Kulle©© San Injazju,
Malta biex l-ilsien Malti jing˙ata l-valur li jist˙oqqlu.
Ix-xhur tas-sena
ﬁl-qwiel Maltin (2)
˙alissa ninsabu fit-tieni
B
xahar tas-sena, Frar, qasir filkitba u wkoll fil-jiem g˙aliex
skont is-sena jvarja bejn 28 u 29
jum. Dis-sena Frar fih 28 jum.
Ikkun b’29 fis-snin biΩestili (leap
years). Meta konna Ωg˙ar konna
nitg˙allmu li dawn huma s-snin
li tivvidihom eΩatt b’erbg˙a.
B˙al f’Jannar, Frar ukoll hu
marbut ma’ aktar bard u aktar
xita. Imma l-konsolazzjoni hi li
jqarribna lejn ix-xahar ta’
Marzu, li fih jibda l-ista©un tarRebbieg˙a.
Fejn g˙andhom x’jaqsmu lqwiel hawn ukoll ˙afna konnessi
mal-maltemp.
Forsi l-aktar qawl mag˙ruf
dwar ix-xahar u li jag˙ti prova
dwar kemm tinΩel xita huwa:
“Frar ifawwar (jimla) il-bjar”.
Hu fatt ukoll li Frar jista’ jkun
ferm aktar qalil minn Jannar
fejn hi l-kes˙a, u hekk insibu lqawl: “Jannar kiefer imma Frar
g˙andu d-dwiefer”.
Jing˙ad ukoll li fl-ewwel xhur
Illum:
Frar
tas-sena l-qtates iqattg˙uhom
barra, ji©©errew u anke jinnamraw, g˙alhekk fil-qawl jing˙ad;
“Jannar u Frar ma j˙allux qattusa
d-dar.”
Min˙abba li fil-kes˙a ˙afna jippruvaw jiskansaw il-bard billi
jmorru g˙all-irdoss, u jibqg˙u
˙afna d-dar, jing˙ad: “Frar ji©bor
lil kul˙add id-dar”
Dan ix-xahar huwa wkoll
mag˙ruf g˙an-nafra©ju ta’ San
Pawl (10 ta’ Frar) u li minn xi
daqqiet it-temp jag˙mel ˙afna
tibdil, g˙alhekk: “Nhar San Pawl
(10 ta’ Frar) it-temp ibiddel
(iqalleb) seba’ darbiet”
Insibu wkoll: “Fellus ta' Frar,
brodu u fran”.
Frar hu wkoll mag˙ruf b˙ala xxahar tal-Karnival, g˙alhekk
ukoll kienu jassoçjaw kemm ixxahar u l-attivita’ f’qawl, hekk li
nsibu: “Óadd il-Blu˙, ix-xita tibda
tfu˙”.
Fl-a˙˙arnett, “Meta ji©i San Mattija, iΩra' t-Tomnija, la mwa˙˙ra
lanqas bikrija”.
The Voice of the Maltese 21
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Community News
Tune In to Radio
and Television
Maltese Radio Programmes
MELBOURNE, on 3ZZZ 92.3FM or on
www.3zzz.com.au. Mondays 5pm, Fridays
5pm, Saturdays 10am.; Last Wednesday
each month at 1pm.
MELBOURNE on 98.9 North West FM,
each Friday 6.00 - 7.00p.m. Presenter Emmanuel Brincat.
MELBOURNE: STEREO 974 (93180930):
97.4FM Wed (Maltese Magazine) & Thursday (Merhba): 6.00pm to 8.00 pm Co-ordinator – Ray Anastasi
In SYDNEY, listen to the MCC radio programme Sunday at 11am 2GLF FM 89.3, or
on demand: www.893fm.com.au
In BRISBANE listen to the Maltese Program on 4EB on Tuesdays 6.00 -8.15am;
Sundays 4.15pm to 5.15pm
UNCLE SAM DJ (Maltese Radio) tune in
to link: www.unclesamdj.com
Maltese Programmes on TV and Web
The GDAY MALTAUSSIE SHOW
on TVS is broadcast in Sydney
Every Saturday at 2pm;
Repeats on Mondays 5 pm and Tuesdays 7.30 am
Watch direct via HYPERLINK:
http://ww.tvs.org.au; http://ww.tvs.org.au
The SBS MALTESE NEWS
Isma’ l-programm tar-radju
bil-Malti mill-Kunsill Malti
ta’ NSW minn fuq l-istazzjon 2GLF 89.3FM.
Jista’ wkoll jinstema’ On Demand minn fuq l-Internet
www.893fm.com.au
(On Demand >Ethnic >Maltese Council 11am)
Fi programm ta’ sieg˙a nhar ta’ Óadd
fil-11.00 ikun fih l-a˙˙ar a˙barijiet
minn Malta, muΩika, tag˙rif, kultura,
avviΩi u su©©etti ta’ interess g˙allMaltin
On SBS Radio - Day Time Analogue Digital
Tuesday: 12:00-13:00 SBS Radio 3
Thursday: 12:00-13:00 SBS Radio 3
Friday: 12:00-13:00 97.7fm SBS Radio 2
Saturday: 14:00-15:00: 97.7fm SBS Radio 2
To tune into digital radio you need receiver
or device with a DAB+ chip.
Tuning in is by station name not frequency. Digital radio can also be heard
on digital TV. SBS Radio 2 is on Channel 38 and SBS.
Radio 3 is on Channel 39. Analogue is
the present FMwavelength. Digital radio
can also be accessed by a smart phone
and/or by going online at HYPERLINK:
http://www.sbs.com.au, www.sbs.com.au
VIVA MALTA
VIVA MALTA on Central Coast
Radio: March 12th and 26th, and April
9th and 23rd - from 6 pm -7 pm on
COAST FM 96.3 Community Radio in
Gosford NSW. Presenter: Nathalie Gatt.
Web streaming on: www.coastfm.org.au.
L-A˙barijiet on SBS TV twice a week nationwide Sunday at
8.00 am on SBS2 (Chan. 32); Thursdays at 8.05 am on SBS2
Follow The Voice of the Maltese online magazine
every fortnight and lso join us on our facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoiceofthemaltese
Meetings of Day Care
Maltese Groups in NSW
Fairfield Active Maltese Seniors
Meets on the first Tuesday of the Month
from10:00am to 12 noon.
The group meets in the Parish Hall, cnr
of Stella Street & The Boulevard, Fairfield Heights.
Daceyville Maltese Seniors
Meets on the last Wednesday of the
month in the Meeting Room One, No. 3
General Bridges Crescent, Daceyville.
Note: The Groups also arrange regular Bus Trips
Come and join us and make new friends..
Merrylands Social Maltese Seniors
Meets every second Friday of the
month; Miller Room, Memorial Avenue
Merrylands from 10.30am to 12.30 am
Llandillo Maltese Seniors
Meets on the first Wednesday of the
month at the Llandilo Community Hall,
Seventh Avenue, from 11am to 1pm.
Greystanes Maltese Seniors
Meets on the second Monday of the
month n the George Preca Centre of
Maltese Community
Council of NSW Inc
Alfred Fenech
Maltese Resource
Centre, 59b
Franklin Street (cr
with Young Street)
Mays Hill NSW.
Phone: 02 98220228
Maltese living at
the Central Coast
Group Meetings are held every
second Monday of each month
at Wyong RSL, cnr Anzac
& Margaret Street Wyong
from 10 am to 12 noon.
For more information Tel: 02
439 000 12 or 0414 267 652
You can have full access The Voice of
the Maltese online anytime by logging to:
http://www.maltesewelfare.com.au
and click on The Voice sign
The Maltese Language
School of NSW
The Maltese Language School
of NSW invites applications for
Maltese language classes at
the Alfred Fenech Maltese Resource Centre located at
59b Franklin Street (corner
with Young Street) Mays Hill
(next to Parramatta West
Public School).
Both young and adult
students may apply.
For more information contact
Mary Pace-Feraud on 9601 2189
or email:
[email protected]
OLQP Church, 198 Old Prospect Road,
Greystanes from 10 am to 12 noon
The Sutherland & St George
Maltese Group
Ongoing: We meet every First Wednesday
of the Month from 10:00am-1:00pm
Our Meetings/Get Togethers are interesting, informative & entertaining.
Come Join us and make new Friends
For more information contact our Coordinator: Charles Mifsud J.P.Phone (02)
9501 5525 – mobile 0421 662 298
*(All Groups are Sponsored by The Maltese Community Council of NSW). Please contact the MCC Welfare Officer: Marisa Previtera JP on 0414 863 123. The MCC offices
are at 59b Franklin Street Mays Hill NSW (next to West Parramatta Primary School)
22 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
C
Co
om
mm
mu
un
niit
ty
y N
Ne
ew
ws
s
THE MALTESE GUILD OF
SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.
G˙arfien lill-Voluntiera
asal iΩ-Ωmien li nag˙tu ©ie˙ u
W
rispett lill-anzjani tag˙na fis-Seniors
Week 2015. Óu din l-opportunita’ biex
tipproponi lil xi ˙add li ja˙dem ta’ voluntier fil-komunita’ u ˙aqqu ringrazzjament.
Il-Maltese Welfare (NSW) qed jirçievi applikazzjonijiet minn individwi ta’ dixxendenza Maltij li ghandhom ‘l fuq minn sittin sena u residenti fi NSW biex
ikunu parti mill-Quiet Achievers – Night of Recognition li din is-sena se jsir nhar l-Erbg˙a, 18 ta’ Marzu
2015 fis-St Dominics’ Annunciation Hall, Walters Rd,
Blacktown NSW.
Biex tinnominaw lil xi ˙add jin˙tie© tiksbu formola
tal-applikazzjoni billi ççemplu lis-segretarju tal-Maltese Welfare (NSW), Emanuel Camilleri 9822 0228 0409 744 376 inkella ΩΩuru l-website:
http://www.maltesewelfare.com.au tniΩΩluha minn
hemm u tibag˙tuha mhux iktar tard mis-27 ta’ Frar 2015.
Nominate a Volunteer
t’s that time of year again when we direct a spotlight
Iportunity
on our seniors during Seniors Week. Take this opto nominate someone who in your view is a
genuine volunteer within our general community and
deserves to be recognised.
The Maltese Welfare (NSW) is seeking nominations
for people of Maltese descent over 60 years old, residents of NSW to take part in its annual Quiet Achievers – Night of Recognition to be held at St Dominics’
Blacktown, on Wednesday March 18, 2015.
Nominations are to be made on an application form
that can be obtained by phoning the Maltese Welfare
secretry, Emanuel Camilleri on: 9822 0228 - 0409 744
376, or visit the website:
http://www.maltesewelfare.com.au. Applicatons have
to be submitted by not later than February 27, 2015.
Maltese Cultural Centre
6, Jeanes Street Beverley S A 5009
Phone Tuesday’s only: 8243 0868.
AH: 8254 6988/0421 791 327
Forthcoming Functions:
Tuesday February 17: ASH WEDNESDAY MASS
Ashes Mass to be celebrated by Fr Gabriel Micallef.
Confession at 10 am followed by the Mass at 10.30 am at Maltese Cultural Centre. After Mass Lunch as usual, followed with games of Bingo and other Games.
Saturday February 28: 38th ANNIVERSARY DINNER DANCE
Admission from 6.30 pm for 7 pm start
Dinner is included: Complimentary glass of champagne with orange, nuts and
crisps, bread roll and butter on tables. Main course to be advised later, with
platers of fresh fruit for Dessert.
From 10.45 pm help yourself to Coffee or Tea with Cakes. Beer - wine - soft
drinks available from the Licensed Bar
Entertainment by The Godfathers Band
Admission: Members $20.00; Non Members $25 Children $10.00.
Book from: Joseph Briffa (Phone: 8254 6988 Mob. 0421 791 327l Mary Craus
(Phone 8281 2329 or 0420 699 617); Rita Bornhoeft 8248 1008 or 0401 860
632) or from any committee members
February 27/28, March 1: WEEKEND GRAPE PICKING
Grape Picking g˙all-Griffith. Nitilqu l-Ìimg˙a fis-6.00 a.m. InΩuri fabbrika tal©obon, salami u wine tasting. Lura l-Óadd (6.00 p.m.) Prezz (twin share) inkluΩ
breakfast tas-Sibt u l-Óadd u dinner tas-Sibt, $380. G˙al tag˙rif u biljetti
ikkuntattjaw lil: Mary Said: 0421 285 698 jew lil Christ Sciberras: 9627 5356
St Nicholas Festa Committee (NSW)
2015 Calendar of events
March 22: Autumn Fiera; July 5: Lejla fil-Buskett; October 18: Spring Fiera;
December 6: Festa ta’ San Nikola
Malta Society of
New Zealand
We now have a Facebook page
that former members are invited to join. It is:
Mainly-Maltese-in-Auckland:
https://www.facebook.com/pages
/Mainly-Maltese-in-Auckland/
396193070527203?ref=hl.
It is open to all who have an interest
in the Maltese culture.
L-a˙barijiet
tal-PBS (Malta)
G˙alkemm il-PBS ta’ Malta tforni lillSBS fl-Awstralja bis-servizz tag˙ha, ilqarrejja m˙e©©a li x’˙in iridu jid˙lu
fil-website: www.tvm.com.mt u jsegwu la˙barijiet ta’ Malta. Din tkun a©©ornata
l-˙in kollu bi stejjer li jkunu qed ise˙˙u.
Mhux biss, imma min irid isegwi dak li
jkun g˙addej, kull filg˙odu ˙in ta' Malta
fuq il-website jittellg˙u wkoll l-a˙barijiet
tal-jum ta' qabel.
FRIENDS OF PROVIDENCE HOUSE NSW
(Formed in November 2011)
ANNOUNCES
18 Day Fly – Cruise – Stay – Tour
Commencing September 19, 2015
Visiting Perth – Bali – Thailand – Malaysia – Singapore.
Fantastic Tour – Great value – All inclusive from $3650 p/p
Proceeds to be donated to Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Malta.
For brochure or bookings call Jim Borg on (02) 9636 7767.
Note: Donations to Id-Dar tal-Providenza can now be made
in Australia at any Commonwealth Bank.
A/C Name: Friends of Providence House NSW
BSB: 062 416 A/C No. 10199448
This will save you the normal bank fees. Please supply name
and address so an acknowledgement can be issued.
Proudly supported by:
Cnr Main & Campbell Sts, Blacktown.
Contact George Vella Tel (02) 9622 7799
The Voice of the Maltese 23
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Community News
GEORGE CROSS
FALCONS CLUB Inc.
(25-27 Lake Ave Cringila NSW 2502,
(02) 4273 0906 [email protected])
Monday Seniors’ Day
Every Monday
Home-made cooked twocourse meal, tea and coffee
Bingo and dancing lessons,
computers available for usage.
Cost only $5.00. Sponsored
by MCCI Illawarra.
Phone 42 746121 and leave message
St John Sydney
Xewkija Ass.
[email protected]
Maltese-Australians’ Youth Committee (NSW)
www.facebook.com.maycnsw
Presents:
Easter
Dinner
Dance
Saturday March 14 at 6.30 p.m.
at Mandavilla Function Centre
1788 The Horsley Drive,
Horsley Park
5-COURSE MEAL
(including beer, wine, soft drinks, tea, coffee)
Fuq Radju Malta (www.pbs.com.mt) kull nhar ta’ Ìimg˙a fis-2.30 p.m. TippreΩenta Josephine Zammit Cordina
Tinteressak il-kitba?
Id-direzzjoni ta’
The Voice t˙e©©e© lill-qarrejja
li j˙ossu li jew
g˙andhom talent g˙all-kitba,
l-aktar bl-Ilsien
Malti, imma mhux biss,
inkella li ja˙sbu li bi ftit g˙ajnuna jistg˙u jrabbu l-kunfidenza g˙all-kitba, biex jekk
iridu, jew jitolbu l-g˙ajnuna,
inkella jistg˙u jibag˙tu xxog˙ol tag˙hom lil: The Voice
of the Maltese.
Email address:
[email protected]
Lesti nippublikaw i-kitbiet
tag˙kom f’dan il-magazine.
Music provided by Charlie Camilleri
and the Mustangs Band
Price: Adults $55.00
Children (Under 12) $30
For further info contact: Sam:
46841617; Rose: 96285424; Elija:
96226047; Martin: 0417237524
Coach trip to Australian War
Museum & Memorial in Canberra
As part of the 100th Anniversary of the Anzac’s Commemoration, the Sutherland & St.George
Maltese Group will be visiting the Australian War Museum & Memorial in Canberra on
Wednesday April 8. It will be an official guided tour, but those who decline to participate in
the guided tour are free to do so.
This War Museum is the Fifth largest of its kind in the World, therefore it would be a very
interesting and informative visit. The Museum also has a small section dedicated to Malta.
We will be travelling in a modern and luxurious 5 Star Coach that will leave from Miranda
at 8:00am sharp. Another pick-up point will be Liverpool Bus Terminal at Bigge St Liverpool
at 8.30 a.m. Then we travel to Canberra stopping on the way for morning tea, etc, at Goulburn.
We will then have Lunch and visit the Museum.
We plan to leave Canberra to return home at approximately 4:00pm, again stopping at Goulburn for Afternoon Tea or a meal. We expect to get back to Liverpool at around 7:30pm, and
Miranda by 8:00pm.
We aim to stick to these times as much as is possible. However, some variances may occur.
The Coach is equipped with a toilet and a TV monitor, allowing us to watch a feature film
on the return trip. In order to ensure that passengers enjoy maximum comfort, we are restricting the number of passengers to 48.
The total cost for the coach trip is $42 per person.
Anybody interested is advised to contact Charles Mifsud on his mobile: 0421 662 298 A.S.A.P.
24 The Voice of the Maltese
Tuesday February 17, 2015
Sports
Tough year ahead for Parramatta FC
on return to top flight football in NSW
P
arramatta FC coach Franco Consentino admits that after returning to
the PS4 NSW NPL Men’s 1 competition for the 2015 season, it would be a
tough year for the former Melita Eagles
club and they would have to do their best
in what would be a competitive season.
He concedes that Parramatta are a relatively young team with a low budget and
their aim is to do their best, to hopefully
survive and build on that the following
year.
Despite getting knocked out by Victorian
outfit St Albans Saints in Round 32 last season, Parramatta FC did well in the inaugural
Westfield FFA Cup, and coach Consentino
claims they can use the Westfield FFA Cup
to learn from the experience as it was certainly one that really captivated the squad,
he told old Nikola Pozder.
“It was fabulous to have been part of the
first ever Cup especially with the healthy
crowd that turned up at Melita Stadium.”
In order to face the new season, Parramatta have strengthened their squad by
signing nine new players, and the coach is
Australia
A-League
Victory narrow gap
wo matches stand out among all others in the
T
last two rounds of the A-League. The top of
table clash between Adelaide U. and Perth Glory
that ended in a 1-1 draw, and the Melbourne
derby in the previous round between the Victory
and the City. The Victory avenged their first
round loss and beat their rivals 3-0.
After the latest results Perth Glory held on to
first place but Melbourne Victory leaprogged
over Adealide to calim the runer up position and
narrow the gap with Perth to just one point.
RESULTS
Round 17
Adelaide Utd v Perth Glory
Sydney FC v Melbourne V.
Wellington Ph v Melbourne C.
Central Coast v Brisbane Roar
Newcastle Jets v Western Syd. W
Round 16
Newcastle Jets v Brisbane Roar
Central Coast v Adelaide Utd
Melbourne V. v Melbourne C
Perth Glory v Sydney FC
Western Syd. W V Wellington Ph.
Standings
Perth Glory
Melbourne V
Adelaide U
Wellington Ph
Sydney FC
Brisbane R
Melbourne C.
Central Coast
Newcastle J.
West.Sydney
P
17
17
17
17
17
16
16
17
17
15
W
10
9
9
9
6
3
5
3
1
1
D
4
6
3
2
8
3
5
6
6
5
L
3
2
5
6
3
7
6
8
10
9
F
30
37
31
30
26
14
22
15
14
11
1-1
3-3
0-0
0-2
1-1
1-2
2-1
3-0
1-3
2-0
A
22
21
17
19
20
19
28
29
38
21
Pts
34
33
30
29
26
21
20
15
9
4
pleased with the recruitment process.
Among the new arrivals is former St
George FC striker Juan Chavez, David
Gullo and Marco Sama. Nikodin Matic
makes a return to the Men’s 1 league and
should provide stern competition to Luke
Turnbull for the number one spot.
Another handy addition will be the return
of Luke Grima from injury, and the Parramatta boss believes he has a good group
of players that will work for each other.
“We have good youngsters in David
Gullo, Josh Symons and Marco Sama who
can change a game on their own which can
very useful.”
He also heaped praise on the club stalwarts Patrick Gatt and Matthew Clowes,
major reason behind Parramatta getting
promoted. Both would still be there.
Consentino also spoke about who he believes will pose a surprise in the competition. He named South Coast Wolves and
Naz (Nahuel Arrate) in particular, saying
that they would “fly under the radar.”
Parramatta’s new signings this season
are: Marco Sama, David Gullo, Nikodin
Matic, Juan Chavez, Aram Tayebi-Derazkala, Steven Wright, Roberto Speranza,
Andrew Vais, and Tommy Cirjak.
Patrick Gatt: he will again captain
Parramatta FC in the championship
Preseason Cup Result
Sydney Olympic v Parramatta 4-0
Next game on Feb. 22 at 7.30 p.m.
Manly v Parramatta
Hibernians wrap up Stage 1 unbeaten
so start Stage 2 with eight-point advantage
Malta Premier
League football
Hibernians beat neighbours Tarxien 4-1 in their final
match to finish Stage 1 in the Premier League 16 points
ahead of nearest challengers Valletta and Birkirkara.
As such, when the Second stage of the championship
kicks off at the weekend, and the points tally acquired
in the first stage are halved, they will start the Championship Pool with an eight-point advangtage
Hibernians set a points record and rounded up the first
part of the campaign unbeaten. They only dropped six
points from three draws throughout the campaign.
In the final round, Valletta and Birkirkara drew 1-1
their direct encounter, therefore the reigning champions
finished a point ahead of third-placed Birkirkara though
both will start the second phase equal on points.
After a most satisfying campaign, Balzan finished with
a disappointing loss against relegation-threatened Pieta,
but still claim their best ever standing in the championship, in fourth.
Floriana finished fifth, while Sliema claimed the final
position for the Championship Pool by beating Mosta
who now join Naxxar, Tarxien, Pieta, Qormi and Zebbug
in the Relegation Pool in the battle for survival.
Table right shows the standings at end of the end of the
first stage. Final row is their points tally (halved)
forstage 2. The top six teams will now feature in the
fight for the title, and the bottom six to avoid the drop
Last weekend, HIBERNIANS,
were made to fight hard to quaify
to the semi-finals of the FA Tro-
Round 22 - end of First stage
Birkirkara v Valletta
1-1
Nikola Vukanac (B); Roderick Briffa (V))
Hibernians v Tarxien R.
4-1
Jorge P. da Silva, Luis AM Lima, Edison L Santos, Clayton Failla (H); Mouhamed Soly (T)
Piweta H. v Balzan
Christian Grech, Claudio Frances (P);
Samir Arab (B)
Floriana v Qormi
2-1
2-2
Gary Muir, Matteo Piciollo (F); Marcelo RM
Lima, Clifford Gauci (Q)
Sliema W v Mosta
2-1
Aidan Friggieri, Junior Obagbemiro (S);
Haruna Babangida (M)
Naxxar L. v Ûebbu© R
4-0
Gilmar S. Ribeiro 2 (1 pen), Jorge S, Silva 2
Standings
Hibernians
Valletta
Birkirkara
Balzan
Floriana
Sliema W
Mosta
Naxxar L.
Tarxien R
Pieta H.
Ûebbu© R.
Qormi
phy. They beat Balzan 4-3 on
penalties after 1-1 (aet). The other
semi-finalists are, VALLETTA v
P
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
22
W
19
14
13
9
7
7
7
5
4
5
4
4
D
3
2
4
7
8
6
4
7
9
6
6
6
L
0
6
5
6
7
9
11
10
9
11
12
12
pts
60
44
43
34
29
27
25
22
21
21
18
18
Stage 2
(30)
(22)
(22)
(17)
(15)
(14)
(13)
(11)
(11)
(11)
(9)
(9)
Mosta 3-1, BIRKIRKARA v Pieta
3-0, and QORMi v Sirens 7-0.
Semis to be played in May.