Issue 90 online magazine

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

December 9, 2014

The Voice of the Malteseonline magazine

December 13 marks the 40th An-niversary of Malta becoming a Re-public in 1974, therefore it isfitting that in this year of impor-tant anniversaries, the island alsocelebrates in grand style thismilestone that was reached pri-marily by the efforts of thenPrime Minister Dom Mintoff.The event, known as ‘Jum ir-

Repubblika’ also marks the daywhen Malta effectively ceasedfrom having a British Governor-General, substantially revised theMaltese Constitution, and theBritish monarch was no longerhead of state. Instead, Sir An-thony Mamo became the firstPresident of Malta.(Read lead article on pages 2,3)

LEFT: Prime Minister and leaderof the Malta Labour Party in gov-ernment, Dom Mintoff (left), takesthe oath of allegiance to the Re-public in the presence of Malta’sfirst President, Sir Anthony Mamo.

ABOVE: The day Maltabecame a Republic: PM DomMintoff with Dep. PM Dr. Anton Buttigieg(left) and the President of Malta Sir AnthonyMamo saluting to the crowd in Palace Square

The monument to theRepublic of Maltain Marsa

Malta: 40 years

a RepublicMalta: 40 years

a Republic

2 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Il-Partit Laburista minn dejjem kellu prob-lema dwar g˙add ta’ aspetti tal-Kostituz-zjoni tal-Indipendenza, g˙alhekk kien

mistenni li la darba jkun fil-Gvern kien seiqajjimhom. B’mod ©enerali nistg˙u ng˙iduli l-Partit Laburista kien mag˙qud dwar it-tib-diliet li ried waqt li Partit Nazzjonalista kellufi ˙danu kurrenti differenti. G˙alhekk g˙all-Partit Nazzjonalista l-kwestjoni kien fiha˙afna perikli u wie˙ed ma jkunx qed jesa-©era jg˙id li kienet il-ka©un li wara t-telfaelettorali tal-1976 witta it-triq g˙at-tne˙˙ijata’ Gorg Borg Olivier minn kap tal-partit.

G˙al ˙afna il-kwestjoni kienet sempliçi:minn stat monarkiku Malta qamet fit-13 ta’Diçembru u saret Repubblika. Fil-fatt kienhemm ˙afna kwestjonijiet li ˙te©ilhom ji©usolvuti u li kienu qamu fis-snin sittin u makienx hemm qbil dwarhom meta l-Kostituz-zjoni tal-Indipendenza kienet ©iet promul-gata. Ghalhekk kien ifisser li t-tibdil Kosti-tuzzjonali me˙tie© ma kienx biss kosmetiku.

Il-bidu tat-triqIl-Partit Nazzjonalista dejjem sostna li dak

li sar bejn l-1962 u l-1964 fejn tid˙ol il-Kos-tituzzjoni tal-Indipendenza sar kif kellu jsir u li la ©iet approvataminn referendum popolari u l-Parlament Brittaniku, kienet wa˙datajba g˙al Malta.

Dwar ir-referendum je˙tieg ng˙idu li anke Duncan Sandys kienstqarr li r-riΩultat tieg˙u ma kienx konvinçenti iΩda finalament il-Gvern Brittaniku kien jippreferi li jasal mal-Gvern ta’ Borg Olivier,li kien jitqies iktar simpatetiku g˙al rabta mal-forzi tal-Punent millima’ Mintoff li kien jitlob Indipendenza bla irbit u li lest ifittex l-g˙aj-nuna g˙all-kawΩa ta’ Malta f’g˙add ta’ pajjizi tal-Patt ta’ Varsavja.

Fl-1971 il-Partit Laburista Malti reba˙ l-elezzjoni ©enerali u mill-ewwel beda ja˙dem biex iwettaq il-pjani tieg˙u f’g˙add ta’ oqsma.Beda billi nnegozja trattat ©dida mar-Renju Unit dwar il-baΩijiet. Il-Partit Laburista kien oppona bil-qawwi li l-Indipendenza u t-Trat-

tat ta’ DifiΩa u dak Finanzjarju kellhom ikun marbuta mal-Indipen-denza. Wara li la˙aq dan l-g˙an dawwar ˙arstu lejn il-Kostituzzjoniu t-tibdil li ried jara fiha. Wie˙ed jista’ jg˙id li ttestja l-ilma meta ressaq Ωew© emendi g˙all-

Kostituzzjoni: il-vot mat-18-il-sena minflok il-21, u t-tne˙˙ija tal-kariga tal-Viçi-President tal-Qorti Kostituzzjonali. IΩ-Ωew© emendi˙tie©u l-appo©© ta’ Ωew© terzi tal-membri kollha tal-Kamra tar-Rap-preΩentanti; fiΩ-Ωew© okkaΩjonijiet l-OppoΩizzjoni ivvutat kontra uwaqg˙u.

Probabbli li Mintoff induna li l-OpoΩizzjoni kienet se topponi kulltibdil li xtaq jag˙mel, speçjalment meta wie˙ed iqis, kif jg˙id EdgarMizzi, li t-tne˙˙ija tal-kariga ta’ Viçi-President tal-Qorti Kostituz-zjonali ma kienx fiha ˙sieb li j©ib l-OppoΩizzjoni g˙al trattativi. G˙al-hekk meta l-Im˙allef Flores irtira mill-kariga Mintoff irrifjuta lijinnomina Im˙allef ie˙or biex je˙odlu postu. Hekk il-Qorti Kostituz-zjonali ma baqg˙etx kostitwita skont il-li©i u ma setg˙etx tiffunzjona. Kienet kwestjoni ta’ importanza kbira u ma setax ikun li ma jqumx

fermet dwarha. Madankollu ta’ min jg˙id li l-argument ta’ Mintoffli t-tne˙˙ija ta’ din il-kariga ma kinetx tinvolvi kwestjoni ta’prinçipju, waqt li din il-kariga setg˙et tintuΩa biex ti©i nfluwenzatal-Qorti Kostituzzjonali, kienu gew aççettati mill-Kamra tal-Avukati.li Ωgur ma kinetx ˙abiba tal-Gvern Laburista. In-nuqqas ta’ Qorti Kostituzzjonali kienet serja ˙afna, li anke l-Gvern

Laburista kien jag˙raf. Li ried il-gvern kien li l-OppoΩizzjoni ti©i mad-

Malta: 40 sena RepubblikaF’din is-sena ta’ anniversarji importanti fil-GΩejjer Maltin, li fihom di©a` fakkarna l-50 anniversarju tal-In-dipendenza, il-35 sena minn Jum il-Óelsien, u l-10 sena minn meta Malta ssie˙bet fl-Unjoni Ewropeja,fit-13 ta’ Diçembru se nfakkru wkoll pass ie˙or importanti li adet Malta fl-1974 fil-mixja biex issir Nazzjonspalla ma’ spalla ma’ o˙rajn u b˙alhom u mag˙hom tie˙u deçiΩjonijiet li jistg˙u jeffettwaw mhux biss lill-©ens Malti imma wkoll lil o˙rajn f’re©juni kemm qrib u wkoll imbeg˙da. L-ebda deçiΩoni f’dawn il-passi ma kienet façli. Hawnhekk,permezz ta’ kitba tal-Profs. Godfrey Pirotta, se

naraw kif il-Parlament Malti, la˙aq il-g˙an, u x-xog˙ol li sar fi ˙dan iΩ-Ωew© partiti l-kbar biex Malta issirRepubblika. Saru negozjati fit-tul u b’çerta intensita` biex Malta saret Repubblika u n-negozjati taw il-frott.

war il-mejda tiddiskuti tibdil fil-Kostituzzjoni. Ugo Mifsud Bonnici, fil-Ktejjeb tieg˙u ‘Kif Sirna Repubblika’ (1999) jg˙id li kien Sir AnthonyMamo, li witta t-triq biex jibdew it-ta˙didiet bejn Gvern u Oppozizzjoni. Bit-tama li ta˙didiet ikunu jistg˙u jibdew ming˙ajr aktar dewmien,

b˙ala sinjal ta’ rieda tajba, il-Gvern kien ˙a l-passi biex il-Qorti Kos-tituzzjonali ter©a` ti©i kostitwita u jΩommha ta˙dem g˙al tlett xhur.

Il-gvern stqarr li ma kellu l-ebda xewqa li jimponi fuq l-OppoΩiz-zjoni. Ried biss li jibdew id-diskussjonijiet. Sa˙aq li Malta kellhakostituzzjoni li qajla seg˙tet tinbidel g˙aliex min˙abba is-sistemaelettorali tag˙na kien kwaΩi impossibbli li partit jirba˙ Ωew© terzijew iktar tas-si©©ijiet parlamentari. Din l-istqarrija tag˙ti wie˙ed x’jifhem li l-Gvern Laburista kien ilu

Ωmien jistenna twe©iba min-na˙a Nazzjonalista u d-diskussjonijietta˙t il-presidenza ta’ Sir Anthony ma bdewx qabel April 1974. It-tahdidiet saru ta˙t kunfidenzjalita’ stretta. It-tahdidiet ma kienuxqed isiru biss bejn il-partiti imma wkoll mal-Vatikan.

Il-Partit Laburista kien ried li fil-Kostituzzjoni tal-Indipendenzajid˙lu provedimenti li ma j˙allux lill-Knisja timponi sanzjonijiet fuqil-votant, u ried li l-Knisja ma tibqax tgawdi influwenza daqshekkkbira li finalment mhux biss tinfluwenza r-riΩultat elettorali immatwaqqaf lill-gvern milli jwettaq aspetti tal-programm elettorali tieg˙uli ma kinetx taqbel mag˙hom.

Ta’ min jg˙id li ftehim li kien intla˙aq bejn il-Knisja u l-PartitLaburista fl-1969 kien di©a` fih qbil f’dan is-sens imma l-PartitLaburista ried li l-ftehim ji©i uffiçjalizzat bi provedimenti kostituz-zjonali. Il-Partit Laburista ried ukoll ftehim dwar it-tag˙lim tar-reli©jon fl-iskejjel. Qal li ma kellu xejn kontra li r-reli©jon Kattolikatigi mg˙allma fl-iskejjel ta’ l-Istat. Li ried kien li persuna li maxtaqitx lill-uliedha jitg˙allmu r-reli©jon ma tkunx kostretta li tag˙meldan. Kienet kwestjoni ta’ liberta` tal-kuxjenza. L-awtoritajiet tal-Knisja ma oggezzjonawx u f’Awissu tal-1974 ©ie

ssi©illat ftehim mal-Vatikan. G˙alhekk it-tibdil kostituzzjonali likellu jsir waqt li kien jimponi obbligu fuq l-istat li jipprovdi g˙at-tag˙lim tar-reli©jon Kattolika kien se jag˙ti liberta` ta’ kuxjenza ujne˙˙i r-reli©jon minn kwalifika obligatorja.

Ikompli f’pa©na 3

Il-Perit Dom Mintoff, dak iΩ-Ωmien Prim Ministru ta’ Malta, jie˙u l-Ìurament ta’Fedelta’ lejn ir-Repubblika fl-preΩenza tal-President Sir Anthony Mamo u

l-iSpeaker Dr. Emmanuel Attard Bezzina

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 3

ikompli minn pa©na 2

Dwar il-bqija tal-bidliet l-o˙ra li xtaq il-gvern l-affarijiet kienu qedjimxu bil-mod, u f’Jannar tal-1974 jidher li l-gvern beda jitlef ftittal-paçenzja, tant li waqt seduta Parlamentari, Mintoff talab is-sospensjoni tal-a©enda tas-seduta biex tkun tista’ ssir diskussjonidwar dawn il-materji. IΩda f’din l-okkazjoni ma ntqal xejn ©did bil-gvern jg˙id x’bidliet irid u l-OppoΩizzjoni tiddefendi l-Kostituzzjonili kienet promulgat hi. Minkejja l-iskossi t-ta˙didiet issoktaw.

F’Ottubru, il-Kunsill Presbiterju tal-Knisja f’Malta, fi stqarrija˙e©©e© lill-Membri Parlamentari biex ma japprovawx it-tibdilmaqbul mal-Vatikan. Din ©abet reazzjoni qawwija minn Mintoff lifil-Parlament spjega l-process kollu li kien wassal g˙al-ftehim mal-Vatikan. Sa˙aq li l-istqarrija tal-Kunsill Presbiterju kienet jew frottl-injoranza dwar li kien se˙˙ fil-Vatikan inkella ried iqajjem a©itaz-zjoni fil-pajjiz. Il-˙sieb tal-gvern kien li tissa˙˙a˙ id-demokrazija.

Sa˙aq li t-ta˙didiet saru biex tieqaf darba g˙al dejjem it-tendenzata’ ˙afna g˙aqdiet reli©juzi f’Malta li juΩaw ir-reli©joni g˙al skopijietta’ politika parti©©jana. Sostna li l-ftehim mil˙uq f’Ruma, kien jorbotliΩ-Ωew© na˙at u sakemm il-Vatikan ma jinformax formalment lill-gvern Malti li l-ftehim ma g˙adux fis-se˙˙, il-ftehim jibqa` jorbot.

Xahar biss wara il-gvern deher li beda jiddejjaq jistenna g˙alhekkfil-11 ta’ Novembru 1974 ressaq g˙all-Ewwel Qari tlett abbozzi ta’li©ijiet li kienu jinkorporaw il-bidliet li fuqhom kien hemm qbil uo˙rajn li dwarhom kien g˙ad ma sarx qbil. Fost l-o˙rajn dawn l-Atti kienu jmissu provedimenti ©odda li kienu jin-

kludu il-bidla minn monarkija g˙al repubblika, l-istatus tar-reli©jon f’-Malta, id-dritt tal-propjeta`, dritt g˙all-vot mat-18-il-sena, poterawtomatiku biex il-Qorti Kostituzzjonali tirrikostitwixxi ru˙ha, twaqqifta’ Kummissjoni g˙all-impjiegi, tibdil fl-g˙add ta’ distretti elettorali ufl-g˙add ta’ membri Parlamentari, u projbizzjoni ta’ corrupt practices. L-aktar Att kontroversjali kien l-ewwel dak li jindirizza kif il-bidliet

kostituzzjonali kellhom ji©u implementati. Dwar dan kien hemmnuqqas ta’ qbil kemm bejn il-gvern u l-OpoΩizzjoni imma anke fl-OppoΩizzjoni nnifisha. Min˙abba f’hekk l-OppoΩizzjoni talbet lill-gvern jipposponi l-pubblikazzjoni ta’ dawn l-Atti. Meta t-Atti tressqu g˙all-vot fl-Ewwel Qari g˙addew ming˙ajr di-

vizjoni. Kien hemm Ωew© materji importanti li kienu jΩommu ftehimbejn iΩ-Ωew© na˙at: it-talba tal-gvern li jestendi l-poteri eΩekuttivifuq il-propjeta` u l-proçedura biex tinbidel il-kostituzzjoni. Dwar il-materji l-o˙ra kien hemm kwaΩi qbil fuq kollox, fosthom, bi qbil©enerali, li Malta tispiçça minn monarkija. L-uniku intopp kien l-op-poΩizzjoni ta’ Borg Olivier li donnu baqa’ marbut ma l-ideja li r-Re©ina EliΩabetta tibqa’ ir-Re©ina ta’ Malta.

Dwar iΩ-Ωew© materji l-o˙ra ma kienx hemm x’tiddiskuti. L-aktarmaterja kumplikata kienet il-proçedura biex isir tibdil fil-Kostituzzjoni. Fit-18 ta’ Novembru Mintoff ressaq g˙at-Tieni Qari l-Abbozz li je-

menda l-Kostituzzjoni. F’diskors imqanqal spjega kif il-gvern kienilu g˙addej f’diskussjonijiet ma l-OppoΩizzjoni kuntrarju g˙al kifse˙˙ fl-1964 meta l-PN g˙adda b’g˙a©la kbira mill-Parlament il-Kostituzzjoni ta’ l-Indipendenza. Qal li din kienet l-iktar seduta im-portanti fl-istorja tal-Parlament. Kien konvint li l-poplu kien sejifhem kif il-gvern, ˙adem biex javvanza l-interessi tal-pajjiΩ. Mintoff qal li l- Kostituzzjoni li l-gvern ried jag˙mel tibdiliet fiha kienet

l-istess li kien oppona g˙aliex kienet g˙amlet l-indipendenza kundiz-zjonali fuq li Malta taccetta it-Trattat ta’ Difiza. Mintoff ried li Maltatkun ˙ielsa li tag˙mel l-g˙azliet li kienu jaqblu lilha ming˙ajr ebda irbit.

Huwa sa˙aq li l-Gvern kellu dritt jemenda l-Kostituzzjoni u ipprovajag˙mel dan wara xhur twal ta’ diskussjonijiet mal-OppoΩizzjoni.

Qal li meta l-PN kien fil-gvern, g˙alkemm kellu l-appo©© biss ta’42 fil-mija tal-votanti g˙amel kostituzzjoni li fiha rabat dak li riedhu u dak li ried il-gvern Brittaniku u g˙amel dan b’ma©©oranza sem-pliçi. Issokta jg˙id lil l-MLP fil-gvern iΩda, zamm diskussjonijiet fit-tul dwar it-tibdil me˙tie© offra li jorbot il-provedimenti kollha lifuqhom kienu jaqblu iΩ-Ωew© na˙at, u fejn ma jintla˙aqx qbil l-af-farijiet kellhom jit˙allew li jinbidlu b’maggoranza sempliçi. Il-Gvern kien issa lest li jmexxi ming˙ajr l-OppoΩizzjoni g˙ax kien

jin˙tie© biss ma©©oranza qawwija bizzejjed biex tag˙ti le©ittimita’lit-tibdil kostituzzjonali.

Fit-twe©ba tieg˙u Borg Olivier appella lill-gvern biex jieqaf mis-seduta ˙alli Ω-Ωew© na˙at jiltaqg˙u u jippruvaw jil˙qu ftehim,b’Mintoff jg˙id li kien lest jag˙mel hekk jekk l-OppoΩizzjonitwieg˙ed li tag˙mel su©©erimenti konkreti.

Borg Olivier aççettal-proposta ta’ Mint-offu ©img˙a wara l-PMg˙arraf lill-Kamra lintla˙aq ftehim dwaris-sustanza tal-bidlietli kellhom isiru immamhux fuq il-proçedurabiex ji©u mplimentati.

Fit-2 ta’ DicembruDtt Borg Olivier dePuget talab li l-Kamrata©©orna min˙abba lil-OppoΩizzjoni kellhatiddiskuti iktar fil-fond fi ˙dana. Mintoff aççetta.

L-g˙ada Dott Anton Butti©ie© ressaq g˙at-Tieni Qari tal-Abbozzbiex jemenda l-Kostituzzjoni. Qal li dik kienet seduta storika ukul˙add kien jaf li l-Kostituzzjoni ta’ l-1964 kienet ©er˙a li ma tit-fejjaqx g˙all-Partit Laburista. L-MLP ma riedx li Malta tkunmonarkija imma iktar minn kollox li l-elezzjonijiet ikun liberi u ©ustiming˙ajr impoΩizzjonijiet ta’ natura spiritwali. Il-Partit ried lijissa˙˙u d-drittijiet umani.

Qal li l-gvern kien qed jitlob lill-l-Parlament jeΩerçita s-sovranita`tieg˙u u jg˙addi t-tibdiliet kostituzzjonali biex ikun frott ta’ qbil bejnkul˙add. Fost kollox kien hemm li l-Knisja jkollha l-jedd tesprimiru˙ha imma mhux li timponi d-dnub il-mejjet.

Il-Kap tal-Oppozizzjoni qal li dak li g˙amlu g˙amluh g˙all-pajjiΩ ukien kuntent jisma’ lill-Ministru juri x-xewqa tal-gvern li jkun hemmqbil ˙alli Malta jkollha Kostituzzjoni li jaqbel mag˙ha kul˙add. Kienimportanti li Ω-Ωew© na˙at jag˙tu kelma li jonorowhom imma ma kienxjaqbel li dik li Malta ssir Repubblika u titne˙˙a l-monarkija kien sejag˙mel lil Malta iktar Maltija g˙ax l-importanti li wie˙ed ikollu l-lib-erta` li jag˙zel hu min ikun il-Kap ta’ l-Istat.

Warajh tkellem Dott. Censu Tabone, il-mag˙Ωul minn s˙abu biexjitkellem g˙ad-deputati Nazzjonalisti li ma kienux jaqblu ma’ BorgOlivier. Semma fiex kienu jaqblu u fiex le. Qal li kien kuntent li Ω-Ωew© na˙at la˙qu qbil dwar il-Qorti Kostituzzjonali. Meta l-Kamra rrisolvit ru˙ha f’Kumitat ˙ar©et fil-bera˙ il-qasma fi

˙dan il-Partit Nazzjonalista, b’Ìor© Borg Olivier u Çensu Tabonejuru li ma jaqblux fil-mod kif ti©i emendata l-Kostituzzjoni. Qabluli j˙allu g˙all-a˙˙ar u li kienu determinati li jiΩguraw l-istabilitapolitika fil-©ejjieni. Qabel ma’ Mintoff li Ω-Ωew© na˙at g˙amlu sagri-fiççji u çedew xi poΩizzjonijiet biex jaslu fi qbil g˙all-gid tal-pajjiΩ. B’dan id-diskors deher li l-ftehim kien issi©illat, u fid-9 ta’ Diçem-

bru l-Gvern ressaq mozzjoni biex it-tlett Atti jistg˙u jg˙addu minniktar min stadju wie˙ed f’seduta wa˙da. Finalment intla˙aq qbil.

Dott. Guido Demarco qal li l-proposta tal-Gvern li min jigi elettPresident iservi fil-˙atra g˙al Ωmien fiss, tag˙ti aktar sa˙˙a lill-uf-fiççju milli kien igawdi Gvernatur-Generali li seta’ jitne˙˙a b’sem-pliçi ittra lir-Re©ina. Kien ukoll importanti li ssir distinzjoni bejnKnisja u Stat u li l-Knisja ma tinda˙alx fil-politika u vici-versa.

G˙alaq id-dibattitu Mintoff li esprima l-fer˙ li dak li kien se jse˙˙kien mertu ta’ kul˙add g˙alkemm stqarr li dawk li sofrew kellhomiktar ˙e©©a biex l-affarijiet jinbidlu.

Sa˙aq li dan kien jum storiku g˙ax Ωew© partiti li kienu spissjitqabdu b˙al iljuni ˙admu flimkien g˙all-©id nazzjonali. Semma likien importanti li min jokkupa l-kariga ta’ President ma jkunx jistajitne˙˙a b’mod façli, u li ma jkunx eΩentat mil-li©ijiet lokali.

Il-Kamra ltaqg˙et fit-13 ta’ Diçembru 1974 biex tag˙laq dan il-kapitlu. Fuq mozzjoni biex il-Kamra tapprova it-Tielet Qari dwar l-Att li jemenda il-Kostituzzjoni Dott Butti©ie© talab lill-iSpeaker Dr.Emmanuel Attard Brezzina li min˙abba l-importanza tal-Att, dawkfavur iqumu bil-wieqfa. Wara qara l-ismijiet ta dawk favur, 49, u ta’dawk li baqg˙u bil-qeg˙da, sitta. Fost tal-a˙˙ar kien hemm Dott.Gorg Borg Olivier u ˙ames deputati o˙ra tal-Oppozizzjoni.

Immedjata wara l-vot l-Att intbag˙at g˙and il-Gvernatur Ìeneralig˙all-firma u malli dan se˙˙, il-Kamra aggornat g˙as-sala ta’ SanMikiel u San Ìor© fejn l-iSpeaker ˙a l-Ìurament ta’ Fedelta’ lejnir-Repubblika u amministrah ukoll lill-Membri l-o˙ra. Fl-a˙˙arnett kien imiss lil Sir Anthony Mamo biex fil-preΩenza tal-

membri kollha u l-iSpeaker, jie˙u l-Ìurament tal-Óatra b˙ala l-ewwel President tar-Repubblika ta’ Malta.

Hekk twieldet Malta Repubblika!

Sir Anthony Mamo jin˙atar b˙alal-ewwel President tar-Repubblika

Sir Antony Mamo (xelug) jie˙ul-Ìurament tal-Óatra

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ilu f’Sydney fl-eta’ ta’ 98 sena. In-na˙at kollha politiçi g˙arfuh b˙ala©gant poltiku li g˙alkemm serva bisstlett snin - 1972-95 – b˙ala Prim Min-istru, iΩda l-impatt li ˙alla baqa`jdamdam sa daΩ-Ωmienijiet.

Whitlam ken ukoll kontroversarjaliu l-uniku Prim Ministru li ©ie mkeççimill-Gvernatur Ìenerali f’Jum it-Tifkira fl-1975, f’azzjoni li ˙olqot kriΩikostituzzjonali.

Izda dan l-eks Prim Ministru kienqrib ˙afna tal-Maltin. Kien membruFederali tad-distrett ta’ Werriwa liji©bor fih subborgi b˙al Fairfied,Cabramatta u o˙rajn fejn fis-sebg˙ini-jiet kienu joqog˙du ˙afna Maltin.

Kienet ˙a©a naturali li mal-elezzjonital-Gvern Laburista ta’ Dom Mintofff’Malta r-rappreΩentant tal-GvernMalti f’Canberra li dak iΩ-Ωmien kienJoe Forace kien se jkollu relazzjonijietqrib mhux biss ma’ Whitlam iΩdawkoll ma’ ˙afna membri Parlamen-tari, l-aktar u l-aktar meta Forace kien©ej minn karriera politika tax-xellug ug˙alhekk kien iktar manipulatur poli-tiku milli diplomatiku.

Ir-relazzjonijiet ta’ Malta u l-Aw-stralja maç-Çina, li dak iz-zmien kienug˙adhom fil-bidu mqanqla tag˙homressquna wkoll qrib xulxin. L-Aw-stralja kienet g˙adha bi Gvern konser-vattiv li ma kienx jag˙raf liç-Çina izdalil Formosa (Taiwan), u Malta, allurabi tmexxija Laburista tat g˙arfiendiplomatiku liç-Çina.

Whitlam u l-Laburisti fl-Awstraljakienu ilhom jg˙idu li jridu jag˙rfu liç-Çina tant li Whitlam tkellem dwar danfil-Parlament fis-sena 1954. F’Marzutal-1955 t˙abbar uffiçjalment li l-ALPfil-Gvern se jag˙raf liç-Çina. L-ewweldelegazzjoni lejn iç-Çina tal-ALP saretf’Gunju 1971, waqt li kienu g˙adhomfl-OppoΩizzjoni.

Kien eΩattament hawn li beda l-es-pisodju li se nikteb dwaru u li qanqalkonflitt bejn r-rappreΩentanza Maltijaf’Canberra u l-Prim Ministru GoughWhitlam.

F’dak iΩ-Ωmien, Awstraljan bl-isemta’ Francis James (li kien mar l-iskolama’ Whitlam u kien editur ta’ The An-glican) sparixxa fiç-Cina u ˙add makien jaf x’sar minnu. Waqt iΩ-Ωjara ta’Ìunju 1971 Whitlam sar jaf li ˙abibuJames kien g˙adu ˙aj iΩda li kien miΩ-mum g˙ax kiser il-li©i. Finalment ©ieme˙lus miç-Çina f’Jannar tal-1973. L-Awstralja g˙arfet uffiçjalment liç-Çinafl-1972 u l-PM Whitlam Ωar dak il-pa-jjiΩ f’Novembru tal-1973. Malta wkollg˙arfet liç-Çina fis-sena 1972.

Imma l-kaΩ ta’ Francis James kienqanqal ˙afna ansjeta` fl-Awstralja unkiteb ˙afna dwaru. Joe Forace, il-Kummissarju G˙oli g˙al Malta fl-Aw-stralja (1971-78) li kien ukollAmbaxxatur Malti g˙aç-Çina kien fl-ajruport ta’ Sydney fi triqtu lejn iç-Çina meta jien mort l-ajruportflimkien mal-˙abib tieg˙i VictorButti©ie© u fost affarijiet o˙ra˙e©©i©na lill-Ambaxxatur Malti biexiqajjem il-kwestjoni ta’ Francis Jamesmal-mexxejja Çinizi.

Fil-fatt, hekk kif kien iç-Çina JoeForace sar jaf li James kien fi triqtulura lejn l-Awstralja u meta d-diplo-matiku Mali ©ie lura lejn l-Awstralja˙abbarha g˙all-ewwel darba, qabel il-Gvern Awstraljan. Joe Forace kienambaxxatur kontraversarjali umin˙abba f’hekk il-membri tal-istampa kienu dejjem ji©ru warajhg˙ax xi “esklussiva”.Tajjeb jew ˙aΩin l-Ambaxxatur Malti

gie akkreditat b˙ala li kien hu li ˙eleslil Francis James miç-Çina anke jekkfil-fatt dan qatt ma qal hekk. Ma setaxjonqos li l-Prim Ministru Whitlam xejnma aççetta kif ©ab ru˙u Joe Forace uskont imkejjen qrib il-KummissjoniG˙olja Maltija f’Canberra, waqt riçevi-ment fil-kapitaliAwstraljana, il-PMWhitlam inkorla u çanfar lil Joe Foraceg˙ax deherlu li din l-a˙bar dwar il-˙elsien ta’ Francis James qatt ma kellujtiha lill-midja hu.

Minn dak il-waqt il-quddiem, ir-re-lazzjonijiet bejn il-Gvern LaburistaAwstraljan u dak Malti marru g˙alag˙ar u komplew fl-istess mod mal-Gvern Liberali meta dawn reb˙u l-elezzjoni fis-sena 1975.*Joe Forace miet fis-27 ta’ April, 2005fl-eta’ ta’ 78 sena

jikteb Lawrence Dimech

L-Awstralja, Malta u ç-ÇinaDom Mintoff (xellug) fil-kapitali ÇiniΩaBeijing fl-1975 jiltaqa’ ma’ Mao Zedong

4 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Rob Galea isan assistantpriest in Vic-

toria's CatholicDiocese of Sand-hurst. The youngMaltese-Australianis also a music sen-sation who plays tohundreds of thou-sands each year.And The SydneyMorning Heraldshines a light onthe apparent para-dox of Fr Galea.

Young Maltese-Australian Rob Gal-ea, an assistantpriest in Victoria'sDiocese of Sand-hurst, is probablythe biggest pop staryou've never heardof. He plays to hun-dreds of thousandsof people every ye-ar. He gets mobbedon the streets ofmany countries. Hewas invited to per-form on the US ver-sion of The Voice,but was too busy.

Fr Rob Galea, 32,lives in Sheppar-ton, in central Vic-toria. The Sydney Morning Heraldrecently shone a light on him with anarticle normally reserved for somepop star. It said, “He's young. He'shandsome – as evidenced by his self-ies on Instagram. He has undeniablesex appeal – women are known toweep and scream, "I love you!" duringconcerts, and he's a gym junkie wholifts 110 kilograms.

But as well as being a pop singer andaspiring body-builder, Fr Rob, describedas a gently-spoken man with "Forgiven"tattooed down his well-honed bicep, isan ordained Catholic priest; “perhapsthe world's biggest celibate sex symbol”.Fr Galea says his vocation isn't to top

the charts, but to convince young peo-ple they are loved unconditionally:“I'm first and foremost a Christian,then I'm a priest and then I'm a musi-cian.” Only four years after his ordina-tion, he is already being credited withre-energising the Catholic Church inAustralia.When not undertaking parish duties –

Fr Galea is chaplain at Shepparton'sNotre Dame Secondary College, visitstwo hospitals and six retirement homes,

and manages the diocese's youth pro-gramme – he tours the world playingpacked stadiums, schools and confer-ences with his band of hipster Chris-tians and makes albums, which havesold tens of thousands.While Galea asserts "I love Shep ... It's

where I want to be as a priest," he hasjust discovered that he will be trans-ferred to Bendigo on January 23. Hegreeted this announcement with"mixed feelings" as he has an estab-lished network of friends and musicalcollaborators in Shepparton.Before finding out about the move he

was philosophical about the prospectof change, determined by the Sand-hurst bishop. “If I do have to move, I'llmove. I'll still have my music; I'll stillrun the young ministry. Just the geog-raphy will be different; everythingelse will be the same.”

At Bendigo he will also serve theparish, 2000+ secondary students aswell as continue his youth, music andtravel ministry.

His music has been described as“catchy, upbeat and gently plugsGod”. In Angel, from his recent fifth

album, an appar-ently poppy lovesong morphs intoan exhortation forGod's protection:“Let his face shinebright on you andlead you to a placecalled home, ahome for you, mylittle angel.”

Though he's vir-tually unknown inthe secular world,Galea is eyeingmainstream audi-ences: his latestalbum is a partialcollaboration withX Factor vocalcoach Gary Pinto,and next year he'llrelease a dance-music album withMinistry of SoundDJ George Bech-ara.

He says, “I'm notproducing religio-us songs, I'm pro-ducing positivesongs that I thinkare after the heartof God. It's aboutour human dignityand about us beingloved, no matter

what our feelings, our sexual orienta-tion. No matter what.The priest says he wants to spread his

message of acceptance everywhere –even to less-than-sober nightclub-goers. “Even if they're drugged out oftheir brains, even if they're drunk,” hejokes. “Whatever it takes.”

Fr Rob, as he is affectionately known,migrated to Australia from Malta in2007, has been both high and drunk. Asa teen he bucked against his strict,Catholic parents and at 14 started fre-quenting nightclubs in Malta’s bestknown hotspot near his home, Paceville,drinking, taking drugs and stealing.He told The Sydney Morning Herald,

he wanted to be cool and notorious.He befriended local gangsters. “Theywere the troublemakers, drug dealers,people who would start fights.” Butthey turned on him for spreading ru-mours about their ringleader, whichnearly cost him his life but triggeredhis religious conversion.Fr Rob and his band will be perform-

ing a Something About You launchand farewell concert in Shepparton onJanuary 22, 2015.

Australia’s pastorof pop is Maltese

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 5

6 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Children, seniors, refugees and people with disability will benefitfrom numerous local projects funded by the 2014-2015 Com-

munity Assistance Programme (CAP). A significant number of thegroups that apply are made up entirely from volunteers and receiveno other government funding.

Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler, OAM, who contributed close to$40,000 to local community groups at a special presentation event,said that this very successful programme is now in its 20th year. Councillor Fowler added: “The Council has always been proud of

the Community Assistance Programme and the help it providescommunity organisations and groups to run activities and projectsthat benefit local residents.” Over the last two decades the Council has donated over $500,000 to

hundreds of local community organisations and groups to run activ-ities and projects that benefit local residents. “I’m pleased to see thewide range of community initiatives being funded, including cultural,educational, health and recreation activities,” the Councillor said.

The Llandilo Maltese Seniors group, were awarded a grant underthis programme. Helen Azzopardi, the group leader together withVicky Scicluna accepted the grant on behalf of the group.Helen works very hard for this group and is always looking for op-

portunities for grants to purchase equipment for use by the group.Last year, she applied for and was given a grant to purchase a PAsystem.Both Helen and Vicky were very happy to once again be successful

in being awarded this grant. Helen is keen to use this grant to pur-chase a portable projector and screen that would be used for the

groups’ seminars and cultural events. The Llandilo Maltese Seniors Group

meets on the first Wednesday of the month- 11.00am-1.00pm. in the Llandilo Com-munity Centre. This group is sponsored byThe Maltese Community Council of NSW. Anybody seeking information about joining

the group should contact the MCC WelfareOfficer, Marisa Previtera on 0414 863 123.

All about pensions and age careAnother successful information night

was held at the OLQP - St Geoge PrecaRooms Greystanes NSW. The subject,‘Changes to Centrelink, tax, pensions andAge Care’ attracted a full house.

Ms Marie-Louise Muscat, a certified Finan-cial Planner from Fiducian Financial Servicesdelivered a thorough insight into the recentchanges to regulations affecting superannua-tion, pensions, age care and associated areas.She explained that this is a vast and com-

plicated area and therefore in the short timeavailable to her she could only give anoverview of recent changes. She insisted

that in most cases detailed assistance by apersonal financial planner is needed as peo-ple have different needs and aspirations.

A spokesperson for the organisers, Mal-tese Welfare (NSW) said that when the sub-ject of periodical information nights has todo with pensions and age care they attract afull house. The next function of this groupis the Quite Achiever –Night of Recognitionon Wednesday, 18th March 18, 2015 at theSt Dominic Aged Care Blacktown NSW.Pictured: the audience at the informationnight. Inset Marie-Louise Muscat ad-dressing the audience

Celebrating 20 years of funding support for Community groups

Mayor of Penrith City Council, RossFowler is flanked by Helen Azzopardi (left),and Vicky Scicluna at the presentation

Maltese – Australian YoungTalent Concert a great successFor the 9th year running, on Sunday

November 23, the Maltese CulturalAssociation of NSW (MCA) held its

Annual Young Talents at the Went-worthville Leagues Club that attractedsome very interesting performers.

A welcoming address by the MC, JimBorg, and a message from the MCC pres-ident, Mr Charles N Mifsud outlining theAssociation’s endeavours to showcase ouryoung performers who are of Maltese de-scent and living in Australia, was followedby a brilliant drum solo from youngAdrian Tatarinoff who opened the concert.

Adrian’s sister, Natasha followed, mes-merising the audience with her sweetyoung voice. Next on stage was a giftedand talented little ballerina, Isabella Fal-zon, while Laura Camilleri, affectionatelynamed ‘the pocket rocket’, performed anenergetic modern dance routine.

Cassandra Zammit, an accomplishedyoung dancer gave a delightful perform-ance, while a very talented young singerAlee Gauci had the audience spellboundwith her powerful ballads. Diane Camil-leri with a beautiful rendition of the ever-green jazz song, ‘Summertime’ hadeveryone captivated with her vocals.

The concert continued with EmmanuelFriggieri’s haunting voice filling the audi-torium with more jazz and blues numbers.His very gifted friend Miriam accompa-nied him on her guitar.

Even more talent followed when JamesCassar gave a very polished performance.He wowed the audience with his powerfulvoice especially with his outstanding ren-dition of the song, ‘This is the Moment’.

Cousins Natasha and Martin Vellarounded up the show with a number ofcountry hits including the very popular

“Waiting For Me” which Martin himselfwrote and is currently at number 14 on theEuro200 Charts! Martin also sang thepopular Cyclones song “Btala f”Malta”,which the audience loved.All the performers together with the com-

mittee came together on stage for the fi-nale by singing John Lennon’s popular hitChristmas song, “So this Christmas”.Everyone joined in.

Finally, a bouquet of flowers was pre-sented to Rose Vella in appreciation oftheir sponsorship. At the same time, it wasalso announced that Breakaway Travelwould also be sponsoring future MCAconcerts.

Jim Borg wrapped up the successfulevening by thanking the sponsor, GeorgeVella (Breakaway Travel), Wenty Leag-ues Club for their continuous support, andespecially all the performers for their hardwork and dedication, the volunteers, andall those who attended the concert, andwhose presence helped make it such amemorable occasion

Marisa Previtera (PRO, MCA)

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 7

The Voice is not just a news portal; We comment, we fight for your rights.We believe in freedom of expression; We are read in the right places.

BELOW: MCC president, Mr Charles NMifsud (sixth from left) on stage with allthe performers and committee membersaddressing the very appreciative audience

Cousins Martin and Natasha Vella performing during the Talent Show

Mark Farrugia from Brisbane, Queensland writes:

Iwas amused, to say the least by the com-ments by the world politicians on the final

day of the recent G20 Summit held in Bris-bane. Australian Prime Minister Ton Abbottsaid he was “heartened by the candid con-versations”, and that the meeting set a goal,developed a plan and implemented it.

World leaders praised the event as being a“good old chinwag” with strong prospectsfor growth, and US President Obama prais-ing the people of “Brissy” for their hospital-ity. He said it wasn’t just a “good oldchinwag” but a productive summit withprogress on everything from tax to trade andclimate change.The decisions reached did not seem that im-

portant, particularly to Australia that hostedthe event. No wonder people keep asking,but was it worth it spending $400 million for

an event that was two years in the planning,and shutting down an entire city for the bestpart of a week?

Though there were residents in Brisbanewho were happy for the city to be in thenews for about two days, for most of us res-idents of Brisbane, the event was a massiveheadache. I also know for certain that sometaxi drivers bemoaned the loss of business.So too a lot of restaurant owners as theyfound out that the presence of a 6000-strongpolice force deterred people from makinguse of their services.

Nixtieq nissu©©erixxi lill-qarrejja li jekkiridu jΩommu ru˙hom a©©ornati bi pro-

grammi li jipproduçu l-istazzjonijiet tat-televiΩjoni Maltija jag˙mlu tajjeb jekk b˙alijuΩaw il-kompjuter ˙alli jaraw ˙afna mill-programmi li jkunu streamed.Veru li l-˙inijiet g˙alina fl-Awstralja huma

strambi g˙aliex fil-biçça ‘l kbira, il-˙in lifih ji©u trasmessi jkun kmieni sbie˙ il-jum,imma nassigura lil kulhadd li minn xidaqqiet tassew li jkun worth it.Minbarra l-fatt li l-SBS, ittrasmetta l-ispet-

taklu tal-Junior Eurovision, u ˙afna minnafl-Awstralja tg˙axxaqna b’dak li rajna,minn dakinhar segwejt ukoll, il-Malta Eu-rovision Song Contest minn fuq il-TVM, uanke s-seduti tal-Parlament dwar il-ba©it.

Zammewni mqajjem imma nassigu-rakhom li ma ddispjaçinix. Fil-fatt hemmukoll mod kif tistg˙u taraw u˙ud minnhomfil-˙in li tridu g˙ax qeg˙din on demand.

Su©©eriment:Segwu l-istazzjonijiet tat-TVMaltin min fuq il-kompjuter

George Muscat from Phillips ACT writes:

The Abbott Government's axe fell hardupon the ABC and SBS. Funding cuts

of $254 million over five years will meanLateline and Australian Story will be gut-ted, five Radio National shows will go,more than 400 people – 10% of the staff –could lose their jobs, and more than 100staff lost from the ABC News division.1

Before the election, there was nothingmore offensive to Tony Abbott than a bro-ken promise. Now, after insisting the night

before we went to the ballot box we'd see“no cuts to the ABC or SBS”, this an-nouncement flies in the face of his supposedmoral outrage, and stands as a betrayal ofour beloved public broadcaster from a gov-ernment with an axe to grind.

For so many of us, the ABC is an invalu-able companion, a trusted source of infor-mation, an Aunty, an essential service in atime of natural disaster or need. It's one ofso few Australian media outlets that are freeof commercial interests, and free to remainfair and independent. .

Have your say/Xi trid tghid?8 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Your letters/ L-ittri tag˙kom ...

onl ine magazineonl ine magaz ine

The Voice of the Maltese

is is a bi-lingual (inEnglish and Maltese) fort-nightly online publication

specifically targeting allMaltese living abroad with emphasis on the

Australian scene. is online magazine is

sent via email by request.Subscription is free.

Editors: Malta: Joseph CutajarAustralia:Lawrence Dimech: MOM,

OAM, JPemail address:

maltesevoice@gmail.com

onl ine magazineonl ine magazine

Letters for publication in The Voice ei-ther in Maltese or English should bee-mailed to: maltesevoice@gmail.com.

Now you can also join uson facebook:https://www.facebook.com/groups/thevoice-ofthemaltese

Abbott’s axe on ABC, SBS is so unfair on us

Alfred Mizzi, Alexander Heights, Perth jikteb:

Was G20 Summit worthSpending $400 million for?

Joe Borg from London, Ontario, Canada,writes:

As a former resident of Blacktown, NSWand now living in Canada, (since 1965)

I am always happy to receive, through theMaltese Canadian Club of London, Ontario,the copies of your magazine, The Voice ofthe Maltese.

I am always looking for stories of peopleand places taking place in the areas I grewup in. The first story that caught my interestin the issue No. 89 (November 25) editionwas about the La Valette Community inBlacktown.

I remember Father Paul Baron as a verygreat priest who was a close friend of myparents, Roger and Jessie Borg. I servedmass for him a few times in fact as ateenager.

While I don't wish to tell you how to writeyour stories, I do wish to say that in the his-tory of one of those who was instrumental inthe construction as well as the first Presidentof the La Valette Social Centre, you may alsofind my father's name, Roger Borg.In fact his name is actually engraved on the

large stone right in front of the CommunityCentre, along with Father Paul and otherswho made up the initial hard-working Com-mittee.

These should be also mentioned. Not justbecause hewas my Father, and the fact that Iam so very proud of all the work he had donein his years living in the Blacktown area, butbecause when one wants to mention the how

and when, and who worked so hard to estab-lish such a great community, then everyoneof such group should be honoured, whetherstill alive or having passed on.

I had the sad but happy occasion to visitthe La Vallete Centre, as well as the St. Do-minic's home just over three years ago,when our dear mother, Jessie Borg, passedaway, and I was attending her last days andthen her funeral. I was personally shown the large dedicated

stone outside bearing the names of thosewho were on the first and founding commit-tee, and proud that my dad's name wasnoted.

Perhaps if you looked into my dad's name,you would find a great deal of informationwith regards to who he was, what he did, andthe number of people (Maltese) from allaround that area basically Parramatta to Pen-rith, to Windsor who depended on RogerBorg for help with all sorts of matters fromInterpreter, to taxation filing, to being taughtEnglish as a second language and so forth.

So I ask that perhaps in the future, whendoing a story about a similar subject, youmight want to research a little more into thepeople who made it happen.Thank you.

Editors note:The story does not mention individuals byname. The list of people like Roger Borgwho laid the foundation stones of La Valetteis endless. Only the founder and the presentPresident were mentioned.

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 9

Have your say/Xi trid tghid? /2

One way traffic!

Dom Little, Belconnen ACT, writes:

Read with interest the intervention ofMaltese European Parliamentarian MrsMarlene Mizzi, regarding allowing citi-zens of EU living permanently in anothercountry to be able to vote in the generalelection in their own country of originaland/or in their country of residence. I do agree that the principle of “One size

fits all” is never a good idea, howeversurely Mrs Mizzi can at least consider allEU citizens voting in the European Par-liamentary elections? In the last elevenyears not one of the Maltese EuropeanParliamentarians visited his fellow Euro-pean citizens living in Australia to discusstheir needs and aspirations.

Credit also to Roger Borg as co-founder of La Valette SC

Frank Mifsud from Newport, Victoriawrites:

In his letter (The Voice nu 89) An-thony Cassar fron Greenwich NSW

wrote: “I keep wondering how pleasantit would be to have had this publicationon the stands and in print”. Indeed, Iwonder as well. Now the readers havegot the luxury of receiving this excel-lent publication at home for free. Howmany of them are willing to subscribeto it for a fee? I wonder? How proudare we of our heritage, our language,our link with our home land? Is it alltalk?Are we willing to forward a donation tothe Voice, saying thank you very muchfor what you are doing to us? Mela le!It’s a one way traffic.

No interest outside Europe

Min qed jg˙ix fl-Awstraljaaktarx familjari mal-problemi tal-Gvern Fed-

erali Awstraljan biex jg˙addil-li©ijiet li jrid. B˙alissa jissem-mew li©ijiet li jirriformaw l-edukazzjoni terzjarja, jidda˙˙al˙las minimu g˙al meta tmur tarat-tabib fis-sistema tal-Medicare uo˙rajn.

Dan qed ji©ri g˙ax g˙alkemm il-gvern g˙andu ma©©oranza kbira ta'membri tal-parlament fil-Kamratar-RappreΩentanti, g˙andu minoranza fis-Senat. Le©islazzjoni tridtg˙addi miz-Ωew© kmamar biex tid˙ol fis-se˙˙, u g˙alhekk il-gvernirid jinnegozja ma' partiti iΩg˙ar, senaturi indipendenti u kultant mal-oppoΩizzjoni sabiex jg˙addi l-li©ijiet li jrid jg˙addi.

Din hija ˙a©a poΩittiva jew negattiva?Min huwa partitarju tal-Koalizzjoni tal-Partiti Liberali u Nazzjon-

ali aktarx jg˙id li negattiva, u min iΩomm mal-Partit Laburista, il-Partit tal-Óodor jew il-bqija aktarx jg˙id li poΩittiva. Jien ng˙idikun aktar g˙aqli li nie˙du pass lura u naraw jekk il-poplu huxmoqdi sew b'dak li qed ji©ri.Lil min jirra©una fuq linji parti©©jani, infakkru x'©ara biss sa ftit

xhur ilu, meta kien hemm il-Laburisti fil-gvern federali, fejn ir-rwoli kienu l-oppost li hemm illum. Il-Laburisti kellhomma©©oranza fil-Kamra tar-RappreΩentanti u minoranza fis-Senat,u diffikulta` simili li jg˙addu l-li©ijiet li riedu. Fl-ewwel le©islatura tieg˙u, il-Gvern Laburista ma rnexxilux jg˙addi

li©i fundamentali g˙at-tnaqqis tal-karbonju (CPRS), u fit-tieni le©is-latura kellu jda˙˙al it-taxxa fuq il-karbonju, li ma kinetx il-politikatal-gvern, b˙ala kundizzjoni g˙all-appo©© tal-Partit tal-˙odor,deçiΩjoni li kellha sehem kbir fit-telfa elettorali tal-elezzjoni tal-2013.

Min qed igawdi b'dan kollu? Ftit ninnota nies li huma sodisfattibis-sitwazzjoni, u din mhix xi ˙a©a ©dida. Jidher li hawn frustraz-zjoni bis-sistema parlamentari, fejn il-poplu jele©©i lil gvern biexiwettaq il-programm elettorali tieg˙u, u fil-prattika l-gvern isib lilanqas jista' jg˙addi l-li©ijiet li g˙andu bΩonn biex iwettqu.

G˙alfejn il-gvern m'g˙andux ikun jista' jimxi skont il-programmelettorali li ppreΩenta lill-poplu? Jien na˙seb li l-gvern g˙andu jkunjista' jimxi mal-programm tieg˙u sakemm jintemm it-terminu tal-gvern, u jekk il-poplu ma jog˙©bux ir-riΩultat tal-programm, g˙andul-opportunità biex jibdel ir-rotta fl-elezzjoni ta' wara.

Dan mhux qed ng˙idu g˙ax naqbel mal-politika tal-gvernpreΩenti. Anzi, jien kritiku ta' ˙afna milli jrid jag˙mel dan il-gvern.Però jien naqbel ˙afna ma' dak li qal Joseph de Maistre, diplo-matiku FrançiΩ li g˙ex bejn is-sekli sbatax u tmintax - 'kull poplujkollu l-gvern li jist˙oqqlu'.

Dan ma jfissirx li l-membri tal-parlament li mhumiex fil-gvernhuma obbligati li jg˙addu l-le©islazzjoni li jippreΩentalhom il-gvern, b˙al ma ©ieli stqarr il-Prim Ministru Abbott. Óaddm'g˙andu jivvota g˙al dak li ma jaqbilx mieg˙u. Il-problema, fil-fehma tieg˙i, qeg˙da fis-sistema.

Il-Parlament Federali Awstraljan huwa mibni fuq is-sistema In-gliΩa ta' Westminster, ji©ifieri Ωew© kmamar tal-Parlament u kapçerimonjali tal-istat (ir-Re©ina, irrappreΩentata mill-GvernaturÌenerali)1. L-istati Awstraljani kollha g˙andhom Ωew© kmamar,˙lief Queensland li g˙andha wa˙da. L-ACT u n-Northern Terri-tory, kif ukoll it-territorji esterni, ukoll g˙andhom wa˙da.

G˙alfejn ikun hemm Ωew© kmamar tal-parlament? Xog˙ol is-Senat huwa li jservi ta' skrutinju tal-operat tal-gvern, u anke li jkunta' rappreΩentanza tal-istati u t-territorji meta jikkunsidraw li©ijietli ©ejjin mill-Kamra tar-RappreΩentanti. Fil-prattika, madankollu,is-senaturi iktar jidhirli li jirrappreΩentaw il-partiti li qeg˙din

fihom, milli l-istati u t-territorji lijirrappreΩentaw.Dan l-a˙˙ar, hemm it-tendenza li

ji©u eletti fis-Senat partiti Ωg˙ar,jew anke membri indipendenti, liftit ikun mag˙ruf dwarhom. Jiendan ma nara˙x neçessarjament˙aΩin, ˙lief li jidher li jkunu qedjitilg˙u min˙abba ftehim sigriet lijkun sar minn qabel l-elezzjonibejniethom dwar kif il-preferenzital-votazzjoni jg˙addu minn kan-didat g˙all-ie˙or fl-istadji differ-

enti tal-g˙add tal-voti. Il-problema hi li l-preferenzi ma jkunuxmag˙rufa, u l-poplu ma jkunx jista' jinfluwenza dan.

B˙alissa qed tissemma r-rieda li jkun hemm xi bdil f'dan ir-rig-ward. Jekk il-bdil iwassal biex il-poplu jkollu iktar sehem dirett ta'liem kandidati jintg˙aΩlu wara li jing˙addu l-preferenzi, dan huwatajjeb. Jekk il-bdil iwassal biex titnaqqas il-possibiltà li jitilg˙umembri tal-parlament minn partiti Ωg˙ar jew independenti, li huwafl-interess tal-partiti l-kbar, dan huwa ˙aΩin, u rridu noqog˙du at-tenti li ma jsir xejn minn dan.B˙ala immigrant li ©ejt minn Malta, sibtha stramba nara kif ja˙dem

(jew kif ma ja˙dimx!) il-parlament Awstraljan. Malta hija wa˙damill-ftit pajjiΩi Ewropej li g˙andhom kamra wa˙da tal-parlament,b˙all-Portugall, l-iSvezja u n-Norve©ja. G˙alhekk, meta le©islaz-zjoni tkun g˙addiet mill-kamra wa˙da tal-parlament, ikun jonqosbiss il-firma tal-kap tal-istat biex il-li©i tid˙ol fis-se˙˙.

Dan ma jfissirx li ma jkunx hemm problemi. F'Malta qabel ma'nbidel il-gvern fl-2013, il-Partit Nazzjonalista mmexxi mill-PrimMinistru Gonzi tilef vot dwar il-ba©it, meta membru tal-partittieg˙u stess, li kien ilu jhedded li jivvota kontra l-gvern, fl-a˙˙arkellu l-opportunità li jag˙mel dan. G˙alhekk, wie˙ed jista' jara li kamra wa˙da tal-parlament ma tig-

garantix li ma jkunx hemm problemi ta' dan it-tip. Allura Ωew©kmamar mhux ag˙ar?

Jien nara li hemm aktar vanta©©i milli Ωvanta©©i f'kamra wa˙damilli tnejn, basta li l-membri li ji©u eletti ikunu verament rap-preΩentattivi tal-fehma tal-poplu.

Kostitwenzi Ωg˙ar, fejn jitla' membru wie˙ed fl-elezzjoni,g˙alkemm jirrappreΩentaw l-fehmiet tal-ma©©oranza ta' kull kos-titwenza, Ωgur ma jirrappreΩentawx il-fehma ta' min huwa fil-mi-noranza. G˙alhekk huwa diffiçli ˙afna li jitilg˙u partiti Ωg˙ar jewmembri indipendenti fil-Kamra tar-RappreΩentanti, g˙ax il-kos-titwenzi huma ˙afna iΩg˙ar minn dawk tas-SenatF'Malta d-distretti huma relattivament ikbar u jitilg˙u ˙ames rap-

preΩentanti minn kull wie˙ed, imma anke hawn, ikun hemm l-hekkimsej˙a 'voti mo˙lija', li a˙na l-Maltin familjari ma' elezzjonijietmg˙oddija nifhmu sew.

Nippreferi nara kamra wa˙da, b'kostitwenzi ikbar minn tal-lum,li minnhom jitilg˙u iktar minn kandidat wie˙ed, u li jin©abruflimkien il-voti li jkunu se ji©u mo˙lija fuq baΩi ta' stat jew terri-torju s˙i˙, u li jintuΩaw biex jitilg˙u membri o˙ra mill-partiti. Il-partit li jirba˙ l-elezzjoni jista' jag˙mel il-ftehim li jkun hemm

bΩonn biex ikun jista' jippreΩenta darba, u jg˙addi darba, le©islaz-zjoni fil-kamra wa˙da tal-parlament. Skrutinju tal-operat tal-gvernjista' jsir mill-midja u korpi kostitwiti (çioe mhux dipendenti fuqil-gvern), b˙al kummissjoni permanenti tal-awditjar, kummissjoni(federali) kontra l-korruzzjoni u o˙rajn.Din mhix bidla Ωg˙ira! M'inix se nΩomm in-nifs...

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

kitba ta’

IVAN

CAUCHI

10 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Il-Parlament fl-Awstralja

Referenzi

[1]http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Work_of_the_Parliament/Forming_and_Governing_a_Nation/parl#govgen

Il-Kamra tas-Senatfl-Awsralja

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 11

Kemm tiftakru minn dawnit-taqbiliet li min jafkemm konna nisimg˙u-

hom fi tfulitna? Na˙seb li l-qarrejja anzjani jie˙du gost linfakkru- hom, filwaqt li g˙aldawk iΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙ li forsi qattma semg˙uhom u jinteressa-hom l-Ilsien Malti, jkun tajjebli jaqrawhom u forsi joqog˙dujdawwru lsienhom jippruvawjg˙iduhom

Mela g˙alina.....

Banni banozzi Ìej il-Papa ©ej Bil-pastizzi tal-˙abtejn Kollox g˙alik U l-mama ma t-tie˙u xejn

Ninni ninni ru˙i ninni, fil-benniena tal-˙arir. G˙andek ommok il-Madonna, u missierek il-Bambin.

Meta ommi kellha lili Kemm kienet fer˙ana bija Kif po©©ietni fil-benniena ll-granpun inqala' bija

O' Ìesù xi grazzja tajtni Kont fix-xifer u 'mbuttajtni Kont musmar ©ibtni grampun U issa qieg˙ed kif g˙andi nkun.

Gallarija ma' ©enb l-o˙ra Kemm hi tajba g˙an-Namur Hi titfali ç-çikkulata U jien nilqag˙ha fil-maktur.

Mananni tibΩa’ xejn, ni©i g˙alik bil-lejl,nag˙laqlek kullimkien,u nkeççilek id-dubbien.

Qalulek mg˙adnix in˙obbok Dik mhix ˙lief g˙ejra tal-©ara jekk indur id-dinja kollha Isba˙ minnek l-anqas nara.

Bajda bajda g˙ax bit-terra Óamra ˙amra g˙ax bil-kulur Óoxna Óoxna g˙ax bil-˙wejje© Twila twila g˙ax bit-takkun

Ajma Ωaqqi kemm tu©g˙ani Kilt il-g˙eneb mhux misjur Iddendelt mal-kannizzata Qisni kelb tal-kaççatur

Ç etta furfiçetta L-g˙arus tag˙ha parrukkier Qatalha xag˙ra kollu U ˙allielha ta’ quddiem

Inaugural Religious Leaders’ Forum (NSW)The Australian Minister for Citizen-

ship and Communities VictorDominello recently hosted a meeting ofthe State’s key religious leaders at theNSW Parliament, at which the partici-pants agreed to the following joint state-ment:“As founding members of the NSW Re-

ligious Leaders Forum, an initiative ofthe NSW Government, we have come to-gether today as faith leaders representingdifferent religions to present a unifiedcommitment to community harmony.We recognise that our freedom as Aus-

tralians to profess, practice and maintainour religious heritage comes with anequal responsibility to demonstrate ourcommon commitment to Australia, its in-terests and future.We accept our responsibility to work to-

gether in promoting mutual respect andunity across the many religious commu-nities in New South Wales.

We are committed to reaching out be-yond our own communities and congre-gations and being a united public voicefor social justice and community har-mony.”

Inaugural participants included: DrIbrahim Abu Mohamed, Grand Mufti ofAustralia, Mr Ismail Sirah, Advisor to theGrand Mufti of Australia, Bishop RobertForsyth, Bishop of South Sydney (Angli-can Diocese of Sydney), Fr Basil Kodseie,Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdio-cese of Australia, New Zealand & thePhilippines, Mr Brian White, Chairpersonof the Buddhist Council of NSW, PanditRam Sivan, Buddhist Council of NSW,

and Sr Giovanni Farquer.Other participants included: Director,

Commission for Ecumenism and Inter-re-ligious Dialogue (Catholic Archdiocese ofSydney), Fr Yousef Fanous, Coptic Or-thodox Diocese of Sydney, SheikhIbrahim El-Shafie, Darulfatwa IslamicHigh Council of Australia, Mr WissamSaad, Principal of Darulfatwa SalamahCollege, Deacon Dimitri Kepreotes, Lec-turer, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese ofAustralia, Prof Nihal Singh Agar, HinduCouncil of Australia, Mr KhaledSukkarieh, Chairperson Islamic Councilof NSW, Sheikh Yahya Safi, ImamLakemba Mosque, Mr Khaled Alamed-dine, Vice President & General Managerof Lebanese Muslim Association,

The other participants were, DeaconMichael Suliman, Melkite CatholicChurch of Australia & New Zealand,Ven Miao You, Secretary & Board of Di-rectors, Nan Tien Temple, Nava Sabet,Acting Public Information Officer Na-tional Baha'i Centre, Jeremy Spinak,President of NSW Jewish BoardDeputies, Dr Basim Alansari, Office ofAyatollah Al-Ansari/Shia Islam, MrSukhvinder Singh, President of SimranHouse Inc (Sikh), Rev Myung Hwa Park,Moderator of The Uniting Church inAustralia Synod of NSW, Rabbi ZalmanKastel, Director of Together for Human-ity Foundation, and Fr Simon Ckuj,Ukrainian Catholic Church of Australia& New Zealand.The next meeting of the NSW Religious

Leaders Forum is scheduled for February2015

The participants at the historic inaugural meeting of the Religous Leaders’ Forum

TaqbilietMaltin(Maltese Rhymes)

Anew national policy on the rights of persons with dis-ability has just been launched. It calls for better legis-

lation, better integration in the workforce and greaterparticipation in the public administration, and proposesmeasures that can provide a basis for a National DisabilityStrategy Framework.

Among these measures are, better accessibility in publicand private buildings, better qualified learning support as-sistants in schools, basic sign language skills for all educa-

tors, and sign interpretation during courtproceedings.

It also calls for a national policy on thesexual expression of persons with disabil-ity and more support for their families

At the launch, Social Policy MinisterMichael Farrugia said that the govern-ment would lead by example by employ-ing 80 persons with disability in Gozo.

in October, Tourism Minister Dr EdwardZammit Lewis said that the statistics con-firm the success of the government’s poli-cies.

Malta’s Tourism success story is on-going as the National Statistic Of-fice (NSO) announced that tourist

arrivals in October reached the 180,620mark, an increase of 3.7 per cent comparedto the corresponding month last year.

According to NSO, a total of 154,047 in-bound visits were carried out for holidaypurposes, while 13,798 were undertaken forbusiness purposes. Tourists from EU Mem-ber States went up by 6.1 per cent to150,722. Compared to October last year, total nights

spent went up by 5.4 per cent, to 1,347,352nights. Total tourist expenditure was esti-mated at €159.9 million, an increase of 2.5per cent. Compared to the corresponding months in

2013, between January and October, in-bound tourism has shown an increase of8.4%, amounting to 1,544,479, while duringthe same period, total tourism expenditurewas estimated at €1.4 billion, 6.3% higherthan that recorded for the same period in2013.The largest proportion of inbound tourists

was aged between 45-64, followed by the25-44-age bracket.

Meanwhile, the increase in tourism hasbeen given as the reason why a number ofhotels have taken up the option given themby MEPA, for the construction of extensionsto their hotels.

So far, following the publication of thenew height regulations for hotels, the au-thority regulating buldings has approvedseven applications for extensions or devel-opments. The hotels are in Gzira, St Julian's,Sliema, and one in Marsalforn Gozo. More hotels are expected to follow suit, in-

cluding those whose applications are fortotal redevelopment.The development is expected to create 450

new jobs and inject a €50 million in the sec-tor. MEPA has also received 13 applicationsfor the development of boutique hotels inValletta and the redevelopment of the for-mer Jerma hotel in Marsaskala.The new policy allows the development ofbuildings that are over 11 storeys high onlyin the Tigne Peninsula, Qawra, Gzira, Marsaand Paceville.Meanwhile, noting the increase in tourism

12 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Roundup of News About Malta

Success in Tourism sector ongoing

National policy for persons with disability launched

Afew days ago, Malta International Air-port, MIA, welcomed its four mil-

lionth passenger this year, achieving itsmilestone more than a month earlier thanlast year. It means that the airport saw anaverage of more than 12,000 passengersevery day, enough to fill up Wembley Sta-dium each week.MIA CEO Markus Klaushofer said: “This

is a remarkable achievement. We have reg-istered record growth in seven years out ofthe past eight. This would not have beenpossible without the dedicated effort of allour employees, partners and other stake-holders.

“We remain focused on developing sus-tainable capacity and attracting visitors toour islands, whilst offering new and excit-ing destinations to the local market.” The increase in passenger traffic illustrates

the efforts placed by the airport and its key

stakeholders to secure better connectivityto the Maltese islands.

Tourism Minister Edward Zammit Lewisacknowledged that this was a major mile-stone and the result of the hard work of allstakeholders involved.

“Our country is developing into an evenmore important hub for tourism, businessand other related matters. Tourism remainsa major driving force for Malta’s econ-omy,” he said, adding that 2015 would beanother successful year in tourism.

For the period ending September, Euro-pean airports reported a growth of 6.4 percent while the Malta International Airportregistered an increase of 7.2 per cent.

The four millionth passenger was ItalianLucia Belardi. She was presented by a gifton behalf of MIA. Passenger movementsare forecast to exceed the 4.2 million markby the end of this year.

Malta International Airport hits 4m passenger milestone

Amonument dedicated to formerPresident Censu Tabone was

unveiled at Balluta Square, St Ju-lians in the presence of his family.Prime Minister Joseph Muscat,Leader of the Opposition SimonBusuttil, former Presidents andmembers of parliament were alsopresent. Dr Tabone served as Pres-ident of Malta between 1989 and1994. He was also a former minis-ter and Nationalist MP.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscatlauded Dr Tabone for his work bothas a politician and ophthalmologist.He said that Dr Tabone’s medicalfindings resulted in less occur-rences of eye trachoma. “He led acolourful life, with astoundingachievements. He was shaped bythe historical events he lived in,” hesaid.

Dr Tabone died in March 2012.He was aged 98.

Lucia Belardi the four millionth passenger holding a bouquetof flowers flanked by the head of the Malta Tourism Authority,Paul Bugeja (left) and Markus Klaushofer

Monument to Censu Tabone unveiled

In 2012, the last full year of the Nation-alist Party, Malta granted citizenship to

1100 persons, of which 300 were citizensfrom EU countries and the other 800 fromother countries. Most of those granted cit-izenship by Malta from outside of the EU,

that is, 31.9% (or about 320) were fromAustralia.

The ones from Australia were in thegreat majority Maltese-Australians.Others who got the Maltese passportcame from Russia (9.2%), the US(7.7%), Canada (7.5%), Morocco(4.0%). The rest (39.7) were from vari-ous other countries.

In the same year, a total of 818 000persons acquired citizenship of an EUMember State, up by 4% comparedwith 2011 and by 6% compared with2009. In 2012, the highest naturalisationrates were registered in Hungary (12.8citizenships granted per 100 residentforeigners), Sweden (7.8) and Poland(6.6), and the lowest in the Czech Re-public and Slovakia (both 0.4), Estonia(0.6) and Austria (0.7). On average, 2.4citizenships were granted per 100 resi-dent foreigners in the EU28As regards the characteristics of the new

citizens in the 28 EU member countries,the median age of persons granted citizen-ship in 2012 was 31.4 years (comparedwith 41.6 for the total EU28 population),with more than a third (35.3%) aged lessthan 25 years and more than half (58.4%)aged 25 to 54,while those aged 55 or overaccounted for around 6%. For the whole EU population as of Janu-

ary 1, 2012, the shares were 27.3%, 42.2%and 30.4% respectively.

The highest number of citizenships gran-ted per 1000 inhabitants was in Luxembourg

Three quarters of all persons that ac-quired an EU citizenship in 2012 becamecitizens of one of the following six Mem-ber States: the United Kingdom (193 900persons, or 23.7% of all citizenshipsgranted in the EU in 2012), Germany (114600 or 14.0%), France (96 100 or 11.7%),Spain (94 100 or 11.5%), Italy (65 400 or

8.0%) and Sweden (50 200 or 6.1%). When compared with the total population

of each Member State, the highest rates ofcitizenship granted were recorded in Lux-embourg (8.7 citizenships granted per 1000 inhabitants), Ireland (5.5) and Sweden(5.3). On average, 1.6 citizenships weregranted per 1 000 inhabitants in the EU28.

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 13

Roundup of News About Malta

In 2012 Malta granted citizenship to1100 persons (320 from Australia)

Oncology hospitalNamed after SirAnthony Mamo

The new Oncology Centre next to MaterDei Hospital is to be named for the first

President of Malta, Sir Anthony Mamo, andwould receive its first outpatients this month.It would provide full services next year.

The official opening would be coincidingwith the celebrations marking the 40th an-niversary of Malta as a Republic, in 1974,which also paved the way for the head ofstate to be Maltese and for Sir Anthony tobecome the first President.

Naming the hospital as the Sir AnthonyMamo Oncology Hospital is beng regardedas a most fitting monument for the man.

The health ministry also plans to refurbishparts of the former St Luke’s Hospital inGwardamanga that was mostly abandonedsince the opening of Mater Dei, in order tostart using it again as a hospital.

This, according to the Parliamentary Sec-retary for Health, Dr Chris Fearne would fur-ther increase much needed hospital beds forpatients in the government’s plans to im-prove even further the health sector in Malta.

At a public consultation meeting, ForeignAffairs Minister Dr George Vella said that

Queen Elizabeth II might visit Malta to inau-gurate next year’s Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment meeting (CHOGM) for whichpreparations are well under way.

In fact as far back as last September, duringthe celebrations marking the 50th Anniversaryof Independence, the British media reportedthat the when the Queen - who would by thenbe 89 - attends (CHOGM), she was also plan-ning to bring her three heirs.

At the same meeting the minister also ex-plained that his ministry’s role is often thestarting point for many a foreign investment

in Malta. He said: “Many people do not knowwhat a Foreign Affairs Minister’s job in-volves. The initial contacts for foreign invest-ments are often done through the Ministry. Alot of Ambassadors are tasked with promotingMalta.

“We are the facilitators, sometimes it worksand sometimes it doesn’t,” Dr Vella said.

The Ministry most often serves to pave theroad for investments, ensuring the legal struc-tures are in place to protect the investment, assuch, ideally Malta should have an embassyin every country, he added however, that real-istically this is not possible both financiallyand in terms of manpower.

Queen Elizabeth II might inaugurate CHOGM Malta meet

Speaking duringthe closing ad-

dress of a confer-ence organised bythe National Coun-cil of Women's Or-ganisations on theissue of pensions,Minister for Finance Prof. Edward Scicluna(above) underlined that the 2015 Budget em-bodies the Government’s determination tofacilitate access to work for women. He said this would be done through measur-

es that will encourage women join the work-force while also addressing obstacles thatprevent or discourage them from doing so. Saying that the Budget is proposing several

measures that would achieve these aims, theminister noted that a maternity leave meas-ure just introduced, would ensure that em-ployers are not discouraged from employingmore female workers, as the cost of financ-ing the maternity leave would now be spreadout over the whole of the private sector.He also noted how the maternity leave pay-

ments would also be increased so as tostrengthen the support that families receiveduring such times, and referring to othermeasures such as the tapering of social ben-efits for single mothers, he said this is in-tended to facilitate their transition fromsocial welfare dependence to job opportuni-ties in the economic sectors.

Facilitating accessto work for women

14 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Xufier jiddomina l-midja MaltijaMa nafx jekk qattx kellna kaΩ ie˙or

f’Malta fejn xufier mhux biss id-domina l-a˙barijiet u l-kummenti

fil-midja g˙al aktar minn ©img˙a, iΩdasa˙ansitra kwazi tefa` g˙al kollox id-diskussjoni tal-Ba©it li l-midja s-soltu tanttag˙tih importanza.Qed nirreferi g˙all-inçident, li qrajtu dwaru

fil-pa©na 12 tal-a˙˙ar ar©a ta’ The Voice ofthe Maltese, fejn Paul Sheehan, ix-xufiertal-Ministru tal-Intern Dr Manuel Malliaspara fuq karozza misjuqa minn SkoççiΩ, al-legament fis-sakra, li ftit qabel kien laqat il-karozza tal-Ministru u baqa’ sejjer.

Dak il-˙in il-ministru kien g˙al attivita`fil-Kwartieri tal-Pulizija fil-Furjana, fil-waqt li x-xufier kellu l-karozza ipparkjata˙dejn d-dar ta’ ommu l-GΩira.

L-inçident se˙˙ propju fil-˙in meta kiense jibda ji©i diskuss il-ba©it fil-Parlament.F’daqqa wa˙da l-midja, l-aktar dik li ftit lixejn g˙andha simpatija mal-Partit Laburis-ta, po©©iet fil-©enb id-diskussjoni tal-ba©itu bdiet tirraporta fit-tul dak li se˙˙, u kul-tant anke dak li suppost se˙˙ f’dan l-inçi-dent. Il-kummenti ma naqsux.

Sintendi, il-midja Nazzjonalista u l-kel-liema tal-istess Partit, immexxija mill-ist-ess Kap tal-OppoΩizzjoni, rikbu fuq danl-inçident biex jattakkaw lill-Gvern, speç-jalment lil Dr Mallia u lill-Prim Ministru,u fl-istess ˙in inessu l-ba©it. Infatti g˙aljum wara l-ie˙or l-OppoΩizzjoni baqg˙ettinsisti li l-Ministru Mallia kellu jirriΩenja,u/jew li l-Prim Ministru jne˙˙ih.

L-OppoΩizzjoni ssostni li l-MinistruMallia ˙eba l-fatti, meta fi stqarrija ma˙-ru©a ftit wara l-incident intqal li x-xufierinvolut (li huwa wkoll pulizija) kien sparatiri ta’ twissija fl-ajru, iΩda wara rriΩulta lifil-fatt spara lejn il-karozza tas-sewwieq,SkoççiΩ, u laqatha. L-g˙ada waqt f’kon-ferenza tal-a˙barijiet kien l-istess Min-istru, li ˙abbar il-fatti kif tassew se˙˙ew.

Mallia sostna li sejja˙ il-konferenzastampa malli sar jaf li l-istorja kif irrappur-tata fi stqarrija g˙all-istampa ma kinetx il-verΩjoni t-tajba. Min-na˙a l-o˙ra l-midjaNazzjonalista qed issostni li ng˙atat verΩ-joni ©dida meta sar mag˙ruf li l-istampadi©a` kellha provi li dak li ntqal ori©inal-ment ma kienx minnu.

Min-na˙a tieg˙u l-Prim Ministru, DrJoseph Muscat, filwaqt li stqarr li kien iddis-gustat u rrabjat g˙al dak li se˙˙, stqarr li makien se jie˙u l-ebda passi qabel ikollu stampaçara tal-fatti. Il-Kap tal-Oppozizzjoni baqa’jallega li l-PM, qed jg˙id hekk g˙ax kiendg˙ajjef, u jibΩa, minn Mallia.

Biex jasal g˙all-verita’ l-Prim Ministruried ja˙tar inkjesta, u biex juri li hum’ghandu xejn x’ja˙bi, sa stieden lill-kapNazzjonalista li ikun hu li jinnominam˙allef irtirat biex imexxi l-bord ta’

nkjesta. Il-Kap tal-OppoΩizzjoni beΩaqlumis-sunnara u ma accettax.Busuttil stqarr hekk:“Issa jrid ifarfar fuq inkjesta o˙ra meta

di©à g˙addejja wa˙da u meta kul˙add jafli l-ebda m˙allef ma jista’ jiddeçiedi ming˙andu jerfa’ r-responsabbilità politika ta’dak li se˙˙ nhar l-Erbg˙a. Huwa l-PrimMinistru li jkeççi lill-Ministri, u l-ebdam˙allef. Imma jidher çar li l-Prim Ministruhuwa dg˙ajjef wisq biex jerfa’ din ir-re-sponsabbiltà.”Fit-twe©iba tieg˙u l-Prim Ministru sostna

li il-Kap tal-OppoΩizzjoni ma kienx waral-verita’, iΩda ried jipprova jakkwistapropaganda politika mis-sitwazzjoni. Il-PM qal:“Il-Ministru Mallia qalli li lest li joqg˙od

g˙all-iskrutinju. La l-OppoΩizzjoni g˙and-ha dawn id-dubji, bl-offerta li g˙amilt l-OppoΩizzjoni mhux biss tkun rappreΩen-tata, iΩda persuna li tag˙Ωel l-OppoΩiz-zjoni imexxi l-board tal- inkjesta.”

Wara li sar mag˙ruf li Busuttil m’aççet-tax, Muscat qal: “Forsi l-kliem li jg˙id (il-Kap tal-OppoΩizzjoni) ma jridx isarfu.M'hawn ˙add kuntent b'dak li ©ara. Jienl-ewwel wie˙ed ninsab irrabjat. Il-Kaptal-OppoΩizzjoni mhux vera huwa wara l-verità iΩda wara l-punti politiçi.”

Il-bord ta’ inkjesta, mag˙mul minn tletteks membri tal-©udikatura, ©ie mitlubjist˙arre© jekk kienx hemm xi ˙add lipprova ja˙bi dak li attwalment se˙˙.

Sadanitant l-OppoΩizzjoni ressqet moz-zjoni ta’ sfiduçja fil-Ministru Mallia. IΩdal-Prim Ministru qal li din il-mozzjoni mhuxse ti©i diskussa qabel ma tintemm l-inkjesta,bl-OppoΩizzjoni ssostni li l-mozzjoni kellhati©i diskussa immedjatament, u li l-PMhuwa osta©© ta’ Manwel Mallia u mhux ka-paçi jag˙mel id-dover tieg˙u fil-konfront ta’Ministru li jag˙mel Ωball wara l-ie˙or.

Min-na˙a tieg˙u Muscat sostna li mhux

se ja˙rab mir-responsabbilta` politika tie-g˙u dwar il-kaΩ ta’ Manwel Mallia, ma-dankollu se jistenna l-eΩitu tal-inkjesta li˙atar biex tinvestiga il-kaΩ.Sadanitant il-pulizija nvolut, li ©ie sospiΩ

mis-serviz, tressaq il-Qorti fejn fost kollox©ie mixli b’attentat ta’ qtil. Xi uffiçjali tal-pulizija qed ukoll ji©u mixlija b’nuqqasijiet,fosthom allegazzjoni dwar tentattiv ta’tbag˙bis ta’ xi provi.

Sintendi l-kummenti dwar din l-istorjassoktaw. Sa˙anistra kien hemm min qal lil-OppoΩizzjoni u l-midja li tappo©ja qedjag˙mlu din l-emfasi dwar din l-istorjabiex titne˙˙a l-attenzjoni minn fuq il-ba©itli ˙afna jqisuh b˙ala poΩittiv.

F’intrvista li kellu l-Óadd mas-SundayTimes, ippressat li g˙andu jie˙u passi kon-tra l-Ministru Mallia, Joseph Musca baqa’jsostni li l-ewwel g˙andhom ji©u stabbilitil-fatti, imbag˙ad jie˙u d-deçiΩjonijiet lij˙oss li g˙andu jie˙u.Ftit jiem biss qabel il-bord tal-inkjesta in-

dipendenti li waqqaf, mag˙mul minn eks©udikanti, li wara kollox kienu ng˙ataw il-˙atriet tag˙hom minn gvern Nazzjonalista,il-PM qal li dak li jiddeçiedu huma jie˙duben fatt.

ImniggeΩ mill-©urnalist li seta’ jie˙u l-passi dwar dak li qed jo˙ro© fil-midja umill-PN, u li ilhom isiru allegazzjonijietta’ arroganza, abbuΩ ta’ poter u mentalita’ta’ bully, dwar il-Ministru, Joseph Muscatqal li r-riΩultat tal-inkjesta li nieda u li setintemm fi Ωmien rekord se jippublikah,kuntrarju g˙al kif kien jag˙mel il-gvern il-PN meta l-inkjesti kienu jie˙du Ω-Ωmienimbag˙ad lanqas biss ˙add jarahom.Ûied jg˙id li kieku wie˙ed kellu jie˙u az-

zjni dwar mentalita’ ta’ bully, l-eks min-istru nazzjonalista Austin Gatt imissu lilanqas biss beda fil-politika.

Ûgur li se jkollna aktar Ωvilluppi u ninsabu˙erqana nistennew ir-riΩultat tal-inkjesta.

Il-pulizija waqt l-investigaz-zjoni wara li arrestat lis-sewwieq SkoççiΩ wara ©irjawarajh. Inset: Paul Sheehan

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 15

Mix-xena tal-˙ajja Maltija 2

‘Rabat’ l-isem uffiçjali tal-kapitali G˙awdxija

Il-qag˙adjonqos

Filwaqt li l-G˙awdxin u l-Maltinmeta jkunu jitkellmu dwar il-belt

kapitali ta’ G˙awdex jirreferu g˙alihab˙ala r-“Rabat”, x’aktarx ˙afna drabimbag˙ad jiktbuha b˙ala “Victoria” l-aktar meta jinkiteb xi ndirizz.

Forsi dan isir g˙ax b’hekk ikun hemminqas possibilta’ li l-kapitali ta’ G˙aw-dex tit˙allat mar-Rabat ta’ Malta. G˙al-kemm hemm ukoll dawk li j˙ossuhaaktar komdi, biex ma ng˙idx kelm’o˙ra,li jiktbu ‘Victoria’ minflok ‘Rabat’.G˙alhekk, meta dan l-a˙˙ar fuq il-karta

tal-identita’ kull min joqg˙od f’dan il-lokal beda jsib l-indirizz imniΩΩel“Rabat”, kien hemm minn o©©ezzjona unsista li l-isem uffiçjali kien Victoria.Wara polemika s˙i˙a fil-©urnali, n˙ar©etstqarrija uffiçjali li tg˙id li skont l-Atttal-Kunsilli Lokali l-isem uffiçjali huwa

“Rabat” u mhux“Victoria.”

Attwalment l-isem Victoria kiening˙ata lil din il-Belt fl-10 ta’Ìunju 1887 b˙alatifkira tal-©ublewtad-deheb (g˙eluqil-˙amsin sena) tar-Renju tar-Re©inaVittoria. Dan sar fuq talba tal-Isqof Mons Pietru

Pace meta kien g˙adu Isqof ta’G˙awdex billi sentejn wara ©ie ordnatArçisqof ta’ Malta. Huwa kien ing˙atawkoll it-titlu ta’ “Sir”.

Is-sabi˙a li l-arma tal-belt i©©ibek fid-dubju: g˙ax issemmi ‘Rabat’, g˙andhaVR – (Victoria Regina) u sa˙ansitra‘Vittoria Re©ina’.

Problema kbira g˙al diversi pajjiΩi f’dawnl-a˙˙ar snin kienet dik tal-qag˙ad. G˙al-

hekk rapport tal-Eurostat li jg˙id li Maltag˙andha t-tielet l-inqas rata ta’ qag˙ad fl-Un-joni Ewropeja hija sinifikanti.

Ir-rata medja tal-qag˙ad fil-GΩejjer Maltinfl-2012 kienet ta’ 6.9%, u fi tmiem l-ammin-istrazzjoni ta’qabel kienet ta’ 6,4%. Issa r-ratahi ta’ 5.6%, li jfisser li l-qag˙ad niΩel b’aktarminn 1000 ru˙.

Minbarra dawn ir-riΩultati eççellenti, l-ista-tistika tal-Eurostat tindika wkoll titjib im-pressjonanti ˙afna fejn tid˙ol ir-rata ta’ qg˙adfost iΩ-Ωg˙aΩag˙.

F’Ottubru din niΩlet g˙al 10.4% biss, kontrait-13.5% li kien hemm qabel il-bidla fl-ammin-istrazzjoni. PajjiΩna issa qieg˙ed fir-raba’ post,b’distakk ta’ 2.7% mill-Ìermanja. Meta bdietdin l-amministrazzjoni, Malta kienet fil-˙amespost, b’distakk ta’ 5.8% mill-Ìermanja.

Qatt ma smajt qabel b’inçidentkurjuΩ li dan l-a˙˙ar spiçça fil-qrati Maltin, fejn iΩ-Ωwie© ta’koppja ©ie annullat min˙abba lima ©iex ikkunsmat.

Imma tg˙iduli x’hemm ©did umhux tas-soltu f’dan?

Iva hemm, g˙ax skont dak lintqal fil-Qorti waqt li kienug˙arrajjes din il-koppja kienikollhom x’jaqsmu flimkien,biss ftit qabel iΩ-Ωwie© l-g˙arusatalbet lill-g˙arus biex ma jkoll-homx aktar x’jaqsmu flimkienqabel ma jiΩΩeww©u g˙axbeΩg˙et li to˙ro© tqila u maxtaqitx li fil-jum taΩ-Ωwie© tkunf’dak l-istat. Il-©uvni aççetta.... u iΩΩeww©u,

iΩda malli ppruvaw ikollhom x’-jaqsmu flimkien, ir-ra©el bedajsib diffikultajiet u fil-fatt ing˙adli qatt ma rnexxielhom li ikoll-hom x’jaqsmu flimkien.

Skont il-psikologu, li marrug˙andu l-koppja, il-problema tar-ra©el ma kenitx wa˙da fiΩika jewmedika, iΩda ta' blokkpsikolo©iku li se˙˙ biss ma'martu. Ωied jikkonferma li dan il-proçess kien beda proprju meta l-koppja kienu astjenew mis-sessqabel iΩ-Ωwie© u r-ra©el bedajag˙mel uΩu mill-porno-grafijab˙ala sostitut g˙all-attività sess-wali li kien ikollu mal- g˙arusa.

B’dawn il-fatti quddiema l-Qorti annullat iΩ-Ωwie©.

Ìdida din!! Nikber, nixjie˙ u nitg˙allem

Minkejja s-sikkatura dejjem tiΩdied fl-ajruport, xorta l-g˙add ta’ passi©ieri li jg˙addu mill-ajruporti ta’ Malta

baqa’ jΩidied sena wara l-o˙ra. Fl-2013 fl-Unjoni Ewropejakien hemm 842 miljun passi©©ier li vvja©©aw bl-ajru. L-aktar ajruport frekwentat kien dak ta' Heathrow f'Londraminn fejn g˙addew total ta' 72 miljun passig©ier, li jfisserΩieda ta' 3.4% fuq is-sena ta' qabel. Warajh kien hemm l-ajruport ta' Charles de Gaulle f'Pari©i

bi 62 miljun passi©©ier u l-ajruport ta' Main fi Frankfurt bi58 miljun passi©©ier.

G˙alkemm meta tie˙u l-g˙add ta’ passi©ieri li g˙addewmill-ajruport ta’ Malta, dan hu insinfikanti meta mxebba˙ma’ dawn l-ajruporti li semmejt, xorta jibqa’ l-fatt li b˙alaperçentwal l-ajruport ta’ Malta kellu Ωieda ferm akbar minntal-ajruport ta’ Heathrow g˙ax iΩ-Ωieda matul is-sena lig˙addiet kienet ta’ 10.5% meta kif g˙idt dik ta’ Londrakienet 3.4% u ferm aktar mill-medja (average) tal-UE fejniΩ-Ωieda kienet biss ta’ 1.7%. (ara wkoll storja f’pa©na 12)

L-a˙barijiet fuq stazzjonijiet Taljani sik-wit iwasslu stejjer dwar frodi li jsiru fil-

qasam tas-servizzi soçjali fejn nies lisuppost morda ma jkunu morda xejn; fejnnies mejta jibqg˙u jing˙ataw l-g˙ajnunasoçjali g˙al tul ta’ snin (sintendi dawnimorru fil-bwiet tal-qraba tag˙hom), eçç.

Jidher li dawn ma ji©rux biss fl-Italja.

Minn twe©iba fil-Parlament Malti ntqal libejn l-2010 u Ottubru ta' din is-senanqabdu mal-€16,653,694 fi frodi li kienuqed isiru minn abbuΩi mill-benefiççji soç-jali. B’kollox kien hemm 3,005 kaΩ ta’

persuni li nqabdu jabbuΩaw minn xi tip ta’benefiççju li ma kienux intitolati g˙alih.Sintendi dan biss dawk li nqabdu!

Mhux ta’ b’xejn li l-Gvern nieda kam-panja ˙alli kemm jista’ jkun jaqta’ dawn l-abbuΩi... u qed jistenna li b˙ala riΩultatjiffranka miljuni ta’ Ewro fis-sena fi ˙lasg˙al servizzi soçjali.

Aktar passi©©ieri

€r o d i , €r o d i

‘Theycannot build acanoe’

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia

The State of Victoria (Mel-bourne –capital city) has anew government after the

State election on Saturday No-vember 29 saw Labor claim ahistoric victory, dismissing theNapthine Government after onlyone term in office.

Labor’s Daniel Andrews is thestate’s new premier as astatewide swing of three per centagainst the Liberals delivered ahistoric victory to the opposi-tion. The historic result saw thestate dump its government frompower after a single term for thefirst time in more than 60 years.

A tight victory was predictedfor Labor but the result wascalled early. Outgoing PremierDr Napthine called Mr Andrewsto concede defeat and said thathe would resign as leader of theLiberal Party in Victoria

“The people of Victoria havetoday given to us the greatest ofgifts, entrusted to us the greatestof responsibilities and bestowedupon us the greatest of honours,we will not let them down,” An-drews told Labor faithful as heclaimed victory.

Forty-five seats were needed towin and Labor was on track towin 47.

Before the election, Labor held43 seats, the Coalition 44, and

rogue MP Geoff Shaw the re-maining seat in the 88-seat Leg-islative Assembly.

With the swing to Labor, it islikely to pick up between threeto six extra seats, but will loseMelbourne to the Greens.

Daniel Andrews’s father ran amix business in Glenroy untilthe family moved to Wangaratta.He studies for an arts degree inMonash University. He waselected to Parliament in 2002and promoted to Cabinet in2006, then elected leader fiveyears later. He has been marriedfor 16 years and is the father ofthree young children.Nine of 22 Labor MPs who will

serve as state ministers arewomen, with Premier-electDaniel Andrews declaring histeam “the most diverse in Aus-tralia”. He unveiled his Cabinetafter a Labor Caucus meeting atParliament House.

The blame game over theCoalition’s loss in the Victorianelection has begun with formerLiberal premier Jeff Kennet la-belling the Abbott Governmentas a “shambles” and admitted itwas a major factor in the defeatof the state government.

In the State of Victoria, wehave the largest Maltese com-munity in Australia

The Liberals out inthe State of Victoria

16 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

The Federal Government has soldMedibank Private for a higher thanexpected $5.7 bn, with shares go-ing to institutional investors. Fi-nance Minister Mathias Cormannsaid there were more than $5 bn inretail bids for the private health in-surance IPO. “We are about totransfer ownership of MedibankPrivate to about 400,000 individualshareholders. This process hasbeen so successful because of theprofessionalism of everyone asso-ciated with the sale.

The offer raised $5.679 bn. It isthe second largest IPO on record inAustralia. Telstra is the biggest at$US10 bn listed in November1997.

Whom to believe?

Medibank Private is sold

The new Premier, Daniel Andrews with wifeCatherine and kids Joseph, Grace, and Noah

Tony Abbott had built a politi-cal career on climate scepti-

cism, with his famous remark in2010 that it was “absolutelycrap”. When President Obamawas in Australia for the G20 hestated that in fact the Great Bar-rier Reef was under threat by cli-mate change.

Our Minister for Foreign Af-fairs, Julie Bishop contradictedObama by saying that the reefwas “not under threat from cli-mate change because its biggestthreat is the nutrient runoffs agri-cultural land, and second biggestthreat is natural disasters, but thishas been for 200 years”.

The Great Barrier Reef MarinePark Authority said in 2014, “cli-mate change remains the mostserious threat to the Great BarrierReef and is likely to have far-reaching consequences indecades to come”. The Aus-tralian Institute of Marine Sci-ence says the size of the reef hashalved in the past 30 years.World leading scientists have re-jected Ms. Bishop’s claims,pointing out raising temperaturesthreaten the reef with massbleaching and raising carbondioxide levels cause damagingacidification in the oceans.

The Senate censoredthe Minister for De-

fence for “insulting” themen and women ofAustralian SubmarineCorporation (ASC) andundermining confide-nce in Australia’s de-fence capabilities amo-ngst other things.

The Minister, SenatorDavid Johnston wascensured by a motionpassed by 37 to 31votes.

Only four such mo-tions have passed in thepast 10 years. The lasttime a cabinet ministerwas censured was in2005 when the Senatecensured then Immigra-tion Minister AmandaVanstone over the Cor-nelia Rau affair.

The extraordinary re-mark that brought onthe censor motion wasthat the Minister wouldnot trust the govern-ment’s shipbuildersASC to “build a canoe”.

The ASC is centrallyinvolved in the $8 bil-lion project to buildthree Air Warfare De-stroyers that will be theRoyal Australian Na-vy’s most powerful everwarships.

The Prime Ministersaid that he has full con-fidence in his Ministerand will not ask him toresign.

Minister for DefenceSenator David Johnston

A quick glimpse at AustraliaA quick glimpse at Australia

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 17

MICHELLE ROWLAND MPFEDERAL MEMBER

FOR GREENWAY

Proudly serving the areas of:

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

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

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

Toongabbie*, Vineyard*Parts of

230 Prospect Hwy, Seven Hills 2147Ph: 9671 4780

Email: Michelle.Rowland.MP@aph.gov.au

Twitter: @mrowlandmp

www.facebook.com/mrowlandmp

Human dignity of asylum-seekers

The Palmer United Party has suffered itsfirst major setback when the Tasman-

ian Jacqui Lambie told the Senate she wasquitting the party. Senator Lambie waselected as a Senator for Tasmania at the2013 federal election. She won Tasmania's sixth Senate seat, re-

ceiving 6.58% of first preference votes.She has credited the final result of her winto "the big man upstairs" also saying,"Once it gets to that point, it's up to Godupstairs. There's not much else I can doabout it.

Her term began in July 2014; she is 43years old and was born in Ulverston Tas-mania. She is single and has two sons.She served as a soldier in the AustralianDefence Forces from 1989 to 2000, wasthe Deputy leader of the PUP but now sitsas an independent

Philip Hughes (1988-2014) was felled with a fastdeliver, a bouncer in a fatal incident that stunned

cricket fans across the world. He suffered brain in-jury, a catastrophic bleed to his brain, in a freak ac-cident and died at St Vincent Hospital Sydney.

Phillip (on right) was due to celebrate his 26thbirthday and was taking part in a match betweenSouth Australia and NSW in the Sheffied Shield.

Sean Abbott delivered the bouncer that felled thedeceased. The cricket community and social mediarallied to support Abbott as the fast bowler wentthrough an incredibly traumatic experience.

The Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office have called on senators to safe-guard and defend the human dignity of asylum-seekers.

The call on parliamentarians comes in advance of voting on the upcoming Migration

Lambie goes independent

Sad day for cricket

Do you want to send your spe-cial Festive Greetings to yourfriends/members/clients? Whydon’t you do it through thismedium, The Voice of the Mal-tese? Our next issue will bepublished on December 23.Special rates apply. Contact:maltesevoice@gmail.com

Send your seasonalgreetings through ‘The Voice’

and Maritime Powers Legislation Amend-ment Bill. ACMRO said it is gravely con-cerned that the legislative proposals in thecurrent Bill will undermine the RefugeeConvention and further erode an alreadyprecarious legal situation for people seek-ing protection in Australia.

“The proposed Bill will expand the au-thority of the Minister for Immigration andBorder Protection to intercept and removepeople seeking protection to any place out-side of Australia, while limiting the reviewprocess by courts or Parliament,”ACMRO said in a statement.“The proposed Bill also seeks to reintro-

duce Temporary Protection Visas whichwill increase the uncertainty around gain-ing permanent protection and family re-unification. The Bill also introduces a fasttrack asylum process which limits accessto independent merits review, and willforce people seeking protection to navi-gate a complex legal system without ap-propriate support and advice.” This Bill was in fact passed with changes,

late Friday, after negotiations with Sena-tors from the cross benches.

Further details in the next issue.

Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie

18 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Tag˙rif lingwistiku, ortografiku, grammatikali u kul-turali dwar il-lingwa Maltija ma˙ru© mid-Diparti-ment tal-Malti fi ˙dan il-Kulle©© San Injazju, Maltabiex l-ilsien Malti jing˙ata l-valur li jist˙oqqlu.

Ìan Piet Fran©isku Agius De Soldanis(esploratur tal-Ilsien Malti - 1712-1770)

De Soldanis twieled ir-Rabat, G˙awdex fl-1 ta’ Novembru 1712. Kunjom ommukien Sultana u probabbilment kien hu stess li bidel il-kunjom mill-Malti g˙al-Latinf’de Soldanis.

Fl-età ta’ 17-il sena l-Isqof Mons. P. Alpheran ˙atru Kanonku t’G˙awdexmin˙abba t-talenti u l-kwalitajiet akkademiçi li kellu. ’Il quddiem bis-sa˙˙a ta’ FraMelchior Alpheran de Bussan li kien ji©i ˙u l-isqof, Ωar diversi istituzzjonijiet kul-turali fl-Italja. L-iktar xog˙lijiet importanti tieg˙u jinkludu dawk dwar il-lingwistika Maltija.

Hekk fl-1750 meta kien Ruma ppubblika d-Della Lingua Punica PresentamenteUsata dai Maltesi li kienet l-ewwel grammatika tal-Malti.

Hawn ta’ min jg˙id li skont de Soldanis, il-Malti kien ta’ ori©ini Punika u mhuxG˙arbi. Bejn l-1750 u l-1762 kien impenjat ja˙dem fuq it-tieni grammatika li ©©ib l-isem ta’ Nuova Scuola della Lingua Punica. Fl-istess Ωmien, sal-1767 ˙adem fuq diz-zjunarju bl-isem ta’ Damma tal-kliem Kartaginis.

Fl-1751 il-Gran Mastru Pinto sejja˙ lil de Soldanis vili u insolenti g˙ax fil-ktiebMustafà Bassà di Rodi attakka l-Ordni ta’ San Ìwann. Hu ©ie sa˙ansitra mtella’quddiem il-Papa iΩda kien liberat minn kull akkuΩa. Bejn l-1757 u l-1758 hu ggradwa b˙ala avukat f’Padova, l-Italja, u fl-1763 in˙atar

b˙ala l-ewwel librar tal-Bibljoteka. De Soldanis miet fit-30 ta' Jannar, 1770.

X’nikeb kas jew kaΩ?Id-direzzjoni ta’The Voice t˙e©-©e© lill-qarrejjali j˙ossu li jewg˙andhom talentg ˙ a l l - k i t b ainkella li ja˙sbuli bi ftit g˙ajnunajistg˙u jrabbu l-kunfidenza g˙all-kitba, biex jekk iridu jistg˙ujibag˙tu x-xog˙ol tag˙hom lil: TheVoice of the Maltese. Email ad-dress: maltesevoice@gmail.com

Tinteressak il-kitba?

Il-kelmiet kaΩ u kas it-tnejn jeΩistu iΩda dawn ma jfissrux u ma jintuΩawxl-istess:

*kaΩ: (plural kaΩijiet) tfisser “xi ˙a©a li ti©ri” jew okkaΩjoni partikolari” u tin-tuΩa pereΩempju, meta ng˙idu: fil-kaΩ li ji©i ˙uk; f’kaΩ ta’ ˙ruq, jew dawn humakaΩi speçjali,*kas tfisser “attenzjoni” u tintuΩa biss fl-espressjoni ta’ kas b˙al: qatt ma takasi; tag˙tux kashom; ma jag˙ti kas ta’ ˙add.

Il-kelma hi ta’ nisel Rumanz (Sqalli casu. Taljan caso). Da˙let fil-Maltif’Ωew© g˙amliet differenti, f’Ωew© perijodi jew komunitajiet differenti. G˙al-hekk g˙andha Ωew© tifsiriet u fonetikament i©©ib ru˙ha b’mod differenti.

Il-konsonanti tal-a˙˙ar turina d-differenza. Meta warajha norbtu tarf lijibda b’vokali, tinstema’” jew “Ω” (b˙al: kaΩi, kaΩijiet) jew “s” b˙al: (rasek,kasu, kasi, kasna).

Kien hemm min qal li l-akbar monument tal-©ensMalti hu l-Ilsien Malti. Tabil˙aqq hi xi ˙a©a tal-g˙a©eb kif poplu li jg˙ix fuq gΩira tant çkejkna li

f’˙afna mill-mapep jindikawha biss b’tikka çkejkna,jew xejn, kif kien jg˙id il-kittieb mag˙ruf (illum mejjet)George Zammit, “kellu l-˙ila jsawwar, jg˙oΩΩ u jkattarIlsien li jag˙Ωlu mill-©nus l-o˙ra kollha b˙ala nazzjon, lijaqdih fil-˙ajja tieg˙u reli©juΩa, politika u soçjali bil-©mielu l-qawwa tal-kelma safja daqs is-sema li tifrex mantu fuqdin l-art u qawwija daqs ix-xemx li ssa˙˙anha u l-mew©aka˙la li t˙addanha b˙ala benniena.”Dan il-g˙a©eb jissokta jikber meta wie˙ed iqis li ©nus

ta’ artijiet kbar b˙alma huma l-Awstralja u l-Amerikaftit jew xejn Ωammew il-lingwa ta’ pajjiΩhom u ˙allewilsna o˙ra jo˙onquhom jew ixejnuhom g˙al kollox.

L-Ilsien Malti hu lsien mill-eqdem, iΩda lsien ˙aj,ji©ifieri g˙adu f’˙alq il-poplu li hu n-nisel tal-©ens limieg˙u u fih twieled dan l-ilsien.

Skont l-istess George Zammit, “Ilsien ˙aj ifisser ilsien lig˙adu jikber u joktor kif tikber u toktor si©ra, u g˙alhekkjimxi maΩ-Ωmienijiet u j©ib fih l-g˙eliem tal-©nus li b’modjew ie˙or kellhom x’jaqsmu ma’ dawn i-GΩejjer - g˙alhekkl-g˙add kbir ta’ kliem G˙arbi, xi kliem Grieg, b˙al “Lapsi”,jew Latin b˙al “©ens”, jew Spanjol b˙al “çkejken”, “gwapp”,jew “©lekk”, jew Sqalli b˙al “çanga”, “xmara”. “qattus”, jewFrançiΩ b˙al “sjett”, “bonswa”, jew Taljan li hu l-aktar ele-ment li niltaqg˙u mieg˙u wara l-element nattiv Malti.”Minkejja dan kollu, l-Ilsien Malti baqa’ dejjem fis-sura

u fil-bini grammatikali tieg˙u dak li kien - Ilsien li jista’jiswa muftie˙ g˙all-Ilsna Orjentali b˙al ma huma l-G˙arbi u l-Lhudi. B’danakollu la hu G˙arbi u wisqinqas Lhudi.

Illum kif wie˙ed jistenna, de˙lin fil-Malti kelmiet uespressjonijiet IngliΩi li ˙afna minnhom qed ji©u ftit ftitim˙addmin mill-poplu fin-nis©a tal-Lingwa, g˙ax hul-poplu li jag˙mel il-Lingwa u mhux il-letterati.

Hu l-poplu li jag˙mel il-lingwa

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 19

Community NewsCommunity News

Meetings of Day CareMaltese Groups in NSW

Fairfield Active Maltese Seniors

Meets on the first Tuesday of the Monthfrom10:00am to 12 noon. The group meets in the Parish Hall, cnr

of Stella Street & The Boulevard, Fair-field Heights.

Daceyville Maltese SeniorsMeets on the last Wednesday of the

month in the Meeting Room One, No. 3General Bridges Crescent, Daceyville.Note: The Groups also arrange regular Bus TripsCome and join us and make new friends..

On SBS Radio - Day Time Analogue DigitalTuesday: 12:00-13:00 SBS Radio 3Thursday: 12:00-13:00 SBS Radio 3Friday: 12:00-13:00 97.7fm SBS Radio 2Saturday: 14:00-15:00: 97.7fm SBS Radio 2

To tune into digital radio you need receiveror device with a DAB+ chip.Tuning in is by station name not fre-

quency. Digital radio can also be heardon digital TV. SBS Radio 2 is on Chan-nel 38 and SBS.Radio 3 is on Channel 39. Analogue is

the present FMwavelength. Digital radiocan also be accessed by a smart phoneand/or by going online at HYPERLINK:http://www.sbs.com.au, www.sbs.com.au

Tune In to Radio and Television

Maltese Programmes on TV and WebThe GDAY MALTAUSSIE SHOW on TVS is broadcast in Sydney

Every Saturday at 2pm; Repeats on Mondays 5 pm and Tues-days 7.30 amWatch direct via HYPERLINK:http://ww.tvs.org.au; http://ww.tvs.org.au

Maltese Radio ProgrammesMELBOURNE, on 3ZZZ 92.3FM or onwww.3zzz.com.au. Mondays 5pm, Fridays5pm, Saturdays 10am.; Last Wednesdayeach month at 1pm.

MELBOURNE on 98.9 North West FM,each Friday 6.00 - 7.00p.m. Presenter Em-manuel Brincat.MELBOURNE: STEREO 974 (93180930):97.4FM Wed (Maltese Magazine) & Thurs-day (Merhba): 6.00pm to 8.00 pm Co-ordi-nator – Ray AnastasiIn SYDNEY, listen to the MCC radio pro-gramme Sunday at 11am 2GLF FM 89.3, oron demand: www.893fm.com.auIn BRISBANE listen to the Maltese Pro-gram on 4EB on Tuesdays 6.00 -8.15am;Sundays 4.15pm to 5.15pmUNCLE SAM DJ (Maltese Radio) tune into link: www.unclesamdj.com

The SBS MALTESE NEWS L-A˙barijiet on SBS TV twice a week nationwide Sunday at8.00 am on SBS2 (Chan. 32); Thursdays at 8.05 am on SBS2

*(All Groups are Sponsored by The Maltese Community Council of NSW). Please con-tact the MCC Welfare Officer: Marisa Previtera JP on 0414 863 123. The MCC officesare at 59b Franklin Street Mays Hill NSW (next to West Parramatta Primary School)

Merrylands Social Maltese SeniorsMeets every second Friday of the

month; Miller Room, Memorial AvenueMerrylands from 10.30am to 12.30 am

Llandillo Maltese SeniorsMeets on the first Wednesday of the

month at the Llandilo Community Hall,Seventh Avenue, from 11am to 1pm.

Greystanes Maltese SeniorsMeets on the second Monday of the

month n the George Preca Centre of

OLQP Church, 198 Old Prospect Road,Greystanes from 10 am to 12 noon

The Sutherland & St GeorgeMaltese Group

Ongoing: We meet every First Wednesdayof the Month from 10:00am-1:00pm

Our Meetings/Get Togethers are inter-esting, informative & entertaining.

Come Join us and make new FriendsFor more information contact our Coor-dinator: Charles Mifsud J.P.Phone (02)9501 5525 – mobile 0421 662 298

VIVA MALTAVIVA MALTA on Central CoastRadio: December 4, 18 from 6 pm -7pm on COAST FM 96.3 CommunityRadio in Gosford NSW. Presenter:Nathalie Gatt. Web streaming on: www.coastfm.org.au.

The Maltese Language Schoolof NSW invites applications for

Maltese language classes atthe Alfred Fenech Maltese Re-

source 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 contactMary Pace-Feraud on 9601 2189

or email:malteselanguageschoolnsw@hotmail.com

The Maltese Language School of NSW

You can have full access The Voiceof the Maltese online anytime bylogging to:http://www.maltesewelfare.com.auand click on The Voice sign

Maltese Community Council of NSW IncAlfred Fenech Maltese Resource Centre

59b Franklin Street (cr with Young Street)Mays Hill NSW. Phone: 02 98220228

Our first Group Meeting to be held on Monday December 1 at: Wyong RSL, Cnr Anzac & Margaret Street Wyong

from 10am to 12pm. It will be a Social gettogether, a chance to meet, exchange ideas and inter-ests, to discuss needs for the Maltese residents living on the Central Coast

Morning Tea will be provided. After that we would be meeting every first Monday of each month,

starting February 2, 2015 at the same venue

Maltese living at the Central Coast

Censina Cefai (Community Development Officer) Tel: 02 439 000 12 or 0414 267 652

The Voice of theMaltese online

can also be accessed

anytime by logging to:

http://www.maltesewel-fare.com.au and click-ing on: The Voice sign

20 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

FRIENDS OF PROVIDENCE HOUSE NSW(Formed in November 2011)

Founder /Coordinator: Jim BorgStructure: Secretary: Marisa Previtera;

Treasurer: Rita KassasOfficial Bank Account: Commonwealth Bank of Australia:

BSB: 062 416 A/C 10199448Aim of Association: Raising funds for Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Malta

Money raised so far: 2012/2013 - $ 2,500 and 2013/2014 -$35,000.

Method of fund raising: Functions, tours, donations, raffles, sponsors.Percentage of funds raised donated to Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Malta – 100%Future fund raising: Donations direct to the official bank account,

sponsorships, tours, functions and raffles.The Friends of Providence House NSW is the official

Ambassador of Id-Dar tal-Providenza, Malta in AustraliaContact details: Jim Borg, Co-ordinatorPhone: (02) 9636 7767 (Mb) 0418 825 591

Email: foph@bigpond.com

Proudly supported by:

Community NewsCommunity News

Malta Society of New Zealand

We now have a Facebook pagethat former members are in-

vited to join. It is: Mainly-Mal-tese-in-Auckland:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mainly-Maltese-in-Auckland/

396193070527203?ref=hl.

It is open to all who have an interestin the Maltese culture.

THE MALTESE GUILD OF

SOUTH AUSTRALIA INC.

January 26th Monday Australia Day Luncheon February 15th Sunday Bus Trip AWAY”February 17th Tuesday Ashes Mass at Maltese Cultural Centre February 28th Saturday Maltese Cultural Centre 38th Anniversary

Dinner DanceMarch 9th Monday Adelaide Cup Luncheon April 6st Monday Easter Monday Luncheon June 8th Monday Queens Birthday Luncheon July 19th Sunday Bus Trip August 11th Tuesday Celebrating Mass St. Mary August 16th Sunday Feast of St. Mary September 12th Saturday Malta National Day Dinner Dance September 15th Tuesday Festa Tad-Duluri Mass September 27th Sunday Annual General Meeting October 5th Monday Labour Day Luncheon November 3rd Tuesday Melbourne Cup Luncheon November 13, 14, 15 &16th Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon 4 Days Bus Trip, Place of Tour (To Be Notified)November 17th Tuesday Mass for the Diseased Members December 19th Saturday Members Xmas Party December 31st Thursday New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance

Please Note! The Maltese Cultural Centre will open every Tuesday From10am ti ll 3pm of every week, start ing on January 13 to December 19, 2015Date of Events are subject to be altered if needed to be changed.

MondaySundayTuesdaySaturday

MondayMondayMondaySundayTuesdaySundaySaturdayTuesdaySundayMondayTuesdayFri, Sat, Sun, MonTuesdaySaturdayThursday

Australia Day LuncheonBus Trip AWAY”Ashes Mass at Maltese Cultural Centre Maltese Cultural Centre 38th Anniver-sary Dinner DanceAdelaide Cup Luncheon Easter Monday Luncheon Queens Birthday Luncheon Bus Trip Celebrating Mass St. MaryFeast of St. MaryMalta National Day Dinner DanceFesta Tad-Duluri Mass Annual General Meeting Labour Day Luncheon Melbourne Cup Luncheon 4 Days Bus Trip, Place of Tour (To Be Notified)Mass for the Deceased MembersMembers Xmas PartyNew Year’s Eve Dinner Dance

Maltese Cultural Centre 6, Jeanes Street Beverley S A 5009

Phone Tuesday’s only: 8243 0868. AH: 8254 6988/0421 791 327

Email: malguild@adam.com.auWebsite: www.malteseguild.webs.com

Socials, Meals, Multicultural Events, Bus Trip ExcursionsFor the Aged are partly supported by Functions Calendar for the year of 2015.

Supported by

This space is being sponThis space is being spon--

sored sored by the NSW friends ofby the NSW friends of

““The VoiceThe Voice of the Maltese”of the Maltese”

If you really want The Voice to grow and prosper joinour group and start similar groups elsewhere.

(This is a paid advertise-

ment)

If you want to join thisgroup of friends you can do so by contacting us at:Maltesevoice@gmail.comfor more information.

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 21

ST HELENA MALTESE-AUSTRALIAN S.C. INC.

Remaining activities for 2014DECEMBER: Saturday 20Christmas function at Melrose Tullamarine

with DJ Dominic in attendanceWe also do weekend trips to Tocumwal & Barham 2014

For more information one should phone VictorBartolo: 93798387 - Mobile: 0412 991 325; Joe Borg:93044414 & Joe Busuttil: 93118968; Mary Abdilla:93705164 & Mary Bartolo, Mobile: 0417 549 724

Community NewsCommunity News

G˙alkemm il-PBS ta’ Malta tforni lill-SBS fl-Awstralja bis-servizz tag˙ha, il-qarrejja m˙e©©a li x’˙in iridu jid˙lu fil-web-site: www.tvm.com.mt u jsegwu l-a˙barijiet ta’ Malta. Din tkuna©©ornata l-˙in kollu bi stejjer li jkunu qed ise˙˙u.

Mhux biss, imma min irid isegwi dak li jkun g˙addej, kullfilg˙odu in ta' Malta fuq il-website jittellg˙u wkoll l-a˙barijiettal-jum ta' qabel.

December 24 - Wednesday - 10.45 pm: Procession with Baby Jesusand Christmas Carols by La Valette choir under the direction by Mro.Victor Flordia. Christmas Mass sermon by a young Natasha Tatarinofffollowed by Midnight Mass.December 27 - Wednesday - 8.00 pm: G˙ana (folk singing). Entrancefree; everyone welcome.December 31 - Wednesday - New Year’s Eve Dinner Dance: 3 coursemeal and wine included. Adults: $60; children U/12: $30. Entertainmentby Charlie Camilleri and the Rocking Mustang.For bookings and information phone: The Centre: 96225847; Frances 04123204320; Antoinette 96712992

La Valette Social Centre Programme 2014

The Xaghra Association of NSW Inc.

INVITES YOU TO COME & CELEBRATE: AUSTRALIA DAY

Date: Saturday January 24 2015 Time: Doors open 6.30 pm for 7.00pm startPlace: Mandavilla Function Centre, 1788 The Horsley Drive, Horsley Park

Entertainer: Joe Apap

Dinner: 3 Course Meal, Beer, Wine, Soft Drinks, tea, coffee & pastizziAlso antipasto plus fruit platters

For more information contact:Ray & Josephine Bigeni: 9627 4182, Mob: 0439 974 182

M'Anne Teuma: 9627 4641

St Nicholas Festa Committee (NSW)2015 Calendar of events

March 22: Autumn FieraJuly 5: Lejla fil-BuskettOctober 18: Spring FieraNovember 28: Night of Entertain-

mentDecember 6: Festa ta’ San Nikola

L-a˙barijiet tal-PBS (Malta)

Learn Maltese!MALTESE LANGUAGE SCHOOL OF NSWA Division of the Maltese Community Council of NSW Inc.

Classes are available for students from 6 yearsto adults at all levels of ability in the Malteselanguage. We have trained and experiencedteachers qualified in language teaching and

with Maltese study credentials.

Learn the Maltese language, the culture, lifestyle,cuisine, traditions and about the amazing history of this magnificent

Mediterranean island.

Classes at: HORSLEY PARK - SEVEN HILLS - LUDDENHAM

For more information and enquiries Call Mary on 9601 2189Or email: malteselanguageschoolnsw@hotmail.com

Supported by the Minister of Education and Training

And the NSW Community Languages Schools Program.

Member of the NSW Federation of Community Language Schools of NSW.

Member of the Federation of Maltese Language Schools of Australia.

Supported by 16 Maltese associations affiliated with the MCC of NSW.

The Maltese Language School of NSW is a Not-For-Profit organisation.

The Maltese community in NSW says:

Thank you AustraliaAUSTRALIA DAY 2015Sunday, January25, 2015

at the Holroyd Centre17 Miller Street Merrylands

(parking on site)An afternoon of celebration

From 3.30pm

Special Guest: Dr Barry York OAM

Entrance free. Light refreshments provided.

All welcomeOrganised by the

Maltese Community Council of NSW

We are One but We are One but We are ManyWe are Many

GEORGE CROSS FALCONS CLUB Inc.GEORGE CROSS FALCONS CLUB Inc.(25-27 Lake Ave Cringila NSW 2502, (02) 4273 0906 gcfc@exemail.com.au)

Seniors’ Day Every MondayHome-made cooked two-course 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 a message.(Numbers are growing and been reaching around 95 every Monday)

Forsi ˙afna wkoll jixtiequ jkunu jafu x’sarminnu llum wara li kien ©ie l-Awstraljajilg˙ab fl-a˙jar Ωminijiet tal-George Cross,dakinhar fil-Victoria State League.

Billy twieled il-Furjana (Balzunetta), fl-1939, u llum il-©urnata jg˙ix f’Melbourne,l-Awstralja. Xi ˙a©a li fil-fatt ftit jafu u Ωgurhija sorpriΩa g˙alihom hi, li g˙alkemmkul˙add jafu b˙ala Billy, ismu proprjuhuwa Alfred.

Fuq talba ta’ Joseph Cutajar, l-editur min-na˙a Maltija ta’ dan ir-rivista, u li ta’ tifelΩg˙ir jiftakar lil Billy jilg˙ab mal-Floriana,f’dawn il-jiem iltqajt ma’ Billy ˙alli nsirunafuh aktar, kif waqaf mill-futbol, u x’sarminnu wara li temm il-karriera ta’ futboler.Çertament ukoll li nistg˙u naqtg˙u wkoll xikurΩitajiet dwaru. L-ewwel kurΩita`: g˙aliex, la ismu prorpju

huwa Alfred, kul-˙add jafu b’Billy?Billy qalli li kien hemm tlett ku©ini

li kollha ©ew imsemmija Alfred.Min˙abba f’hekk, biex ma jkunxhemm tfixkil, wie˙ed baqa’ jissejja˙b’ismu proprju, Alfred, ie˙or sarmag˙ruf b˙ala Wilfred, u lilu bdewisej˙ulu Billy....isem li baqa’ bih sal-lum.Fi tfulitu Billy kien jattendi l-iskola

tal-gvern fil-Furjana u l-ewwel fut-bol organizzat lag˙bu mat-tim tal-iskola, imbag˙ad mat-tim tal-Minors(ta˙t it-18-il sena) tal-Floriana.

Minn kmieni deher jipprometti, umeta kien g˙ad kellu biss 17-il sena,fl-ista©un 1956-57, la-g˙ab g˙all-ewwel darba fl-I DiviΩjoni mat-timtal-Floriana, fl-istess tim li mieg˙ukien jilg˙ab ukoll ˙uh akbar minnu,Tony, li kien jifforma parti mid-di-fiΩa soda FurjaniΩa

Kienu Ω-Ωmienijiet tal-glorja tal-Floriana qalli, u fl-ewwel sena tieg˙ukien jifforma parti mit-tim li reba˙ it-Triple Crown – il-Kampjonat, l-FATrophy u l-Cassar Cup.Fl-1957, b˙al g˙add ta’ plejers o˙ra

li kienu jilag˙bu mal-Floriana, immamhux biss, Billy kien da˙al fl-Ar-mata Maltija, l-RMA. Kien hemm˙afna plejers o˙ra mag˙rufa mieg˙u

u b˙alhom beda ji©i mag˙Ωul fit-timb’sa˙˙tu tal-RMA (dak iΩ-Ωmien mag˙rufb˙ala l-Pick Army).

Ta’ 21 sena, fil-5 ta’ Novembru tal-1961Billy ©ie mag˙Ωul g˙all-unika log˙ba inter-nazzjonali uffiçjali tieg˙u mat-tim nazzjon-ali ta’ Malta kontra n-Norve©ja f’dak li kienmag˙ruf b˙ala l-Empire Stadium fil-GΩira.Il-log˙ba ntemmet 1-1.

Billy lag˙ab partiti o˙ra bil-flokk tat-timnazzjonali Malti imma dawn kienu bisslog˙biet ta’ ˙biberija u mhux mag˙rufa uf-fiçjalment b˙ala partiti internazzjonali. It-tim kienu ikun mag˙ruf b˙ala l-G˙aΩlaMaltija (il-Pick Malta jew l-MFA XI).

Fost dawn jiftakar sew il-log˙ba fl-ista-dium kontra l-Manchester United, bl-IngliΩijirb˙u 2-0. Dakinhar il-United kienu qedjibnu t-tim mill-©did wara t-tra©edja ta’Munich tlett snin qabel li fiha tilfu mat-tmien plejers.

IΩda qabel dan, Billy Dalli kien ukoll libesil-flokk Malti fl-1960 fil-partiti ta’kwafikazzjoni g˙al-Log˙ob Olimpiku tal-1960 f’Ruma.

22 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Çert li minkejja li ma kellux xi karriera twila fil-futbol,dawk li j˙obbu dan l-isport, kemm f’Malta u wkoll fl-Awstralja, u li forsi g˙andhom eta` ftit avvanzata jif-

takru sew lill-plejer tal-Floriana f’Malta, Billy Dalli, li sirt naf li ismu proprja hu Alfred.

G˙aliex Billy umhux Alfred?

minn Paul Vella(Melbourne)

*g˙al pa©na 23

Billy Dallifil-bidu

tal-karri-era mal-Floriana

Billy f’azzjoni tipika waqtlog˙ba kontra s-Sliema, ukif ˙afna jiftakruh fiΩ-Ωmien tieg˙u mal-Floriana

Billy Dalli (quddiem, it-tielet mix-xellug) mat-tim FurjaniΩ rebbie˙ tat-Triple Crown fl-1957-1958; LEMIN: Billy (quddiem ir-raba’ mil-lemin) mal-George Cross. Jidhru wkoll il-Maltin, Tony Dimech(l-ewwel xellug), Çensu Muscat (l-ewwel lemin), u quddiem: FreddyFalzon u Eddie Sacco (l-ewwel u t-tieni), u Twanny Cassar (tieni lemin)

Tuesday December 9, 2014 The Voice of the Maltese 23

Fil-fatt dak it-tim g˙all-Maltin xorta kien meqjusb˙ala t-tim nazzjonali g˙al-iex kienu jing˙aΩlu l-a˙jarplejers min˙abba li wara kol-lox il-plejers Maltin xortakienu ‘dilettanti’ (mhux ix-xog˙ol tag˙hom il-futbol).

Malta lag˙bet kontra t-TuneΩija u l-Marokk, u fid-darbtejn il-partiti f’Maltantemmu 2-2.

Billy skorja gowl f’kullwa˙da. Meta l-Maltin kienu-lag˙bu l-partiti ta’ ritorn, tilfu1-0 fit-TuneΩija u 2-1 fil-Marokk.Fl-ista©un 1961-62, il-klabbs

Maltin g˙all-ewwel darba˙adu sehem fil-kompetizzjoni-jiet Ewropej organizzati mill-UEFA, u filwaqt li Hibernians kienu l-ewwelli ˙adu sehem fil-kompetizzjoni g˙aç-Cham-pions, (it-Tazza Ewropea, jew EuropeanCup), Floriana kienu l-ewwel mill-Maltin liiddebuttaw f’dik g˙ar-Rebbie˙a tat-Tazzi(Cup Winners Cup).

Billy Dalli kien fit-tim FurjaniΩ li lag˙abkontra S.K. Ujpesti Dozsa tal-Ungerija fl-Empire Stadium. Floriana tilfu l-ewwellog˙ba f’Malta 4-2, imbag˙ad tilfu wkoll bil-kbir fil-partita ta’ ritorn fl-Ungerija, 10-2.

Fl-istess sta©un Floriana reb˙u wkoll il-kampjonat Malti. Din id-darba waqqfuwkoll rekord, meta spiççaw jirb˙u l-log˙obkollu ming˙ajr ma mqar waqqg˙u punt.Barra minhekk g˙at-tieni darba reb˙u wkollit-Triple Crown.

Billy kellu sta©un tajjeb ˙afna u g˙aldarbtejn wara xulxin ing˙aΩel il-Plejer tal-Log˙ba. Ir-reb˙a tal-kampjonat tat ukoll lil Floriana

d-dritt li fl-ista©un ta’ wara, l-1962-63, iku-nu huma li jirrappreΩentaw lil Malta fil-Eu-ropean Cup. Kienu ©ew imtella’jilag˙bukontra ç-Champions IngliΩi Ipswich Town,dak iΩ-Ωmien immexxija mill-mag˙ruf SirAlf Ramsey b˙ala mani©er. B’Billy fit-tim,Floriana tilfu l-ewwel log˙ba f’Malta 4-1,imbag˙ad g˙al-darb’o˙ra sofrew telfa kbira.ta’ 10-0, fir-ritorn fl-Ingilterra.

Mal-Floriana Billy lag˙ab aktar partitikontra klabbijiet barranin, fosthom ta’˙biberija kontra timijiet Libjani, f’BenghaΩiu Tripli, fit-TuneΩija u wkoll f’pajjiΩi o˙ra.

Imbag˙ad f’Settembru tal-1962, fl-eta’ ta’23 sena Billy iΩΩewwe© lil Doris Gatt, mill-Marsa. Min˙abba li l-familja tal-mara kie-netqed ta˙seb biex temigra lejn l-Awstralja, huwkoll iddeçieda li jissie˙eb mag˙hom ug˙all-a˙˙ar ta’ Frar tas-sena ta’ waraflimkien emigraw lejn l-Awstralja. MiΩ-Ωwie© tag˙hom, Billy u Doris g˙and-

hom tlett itfal, lil Marco, Tania u Jason, uerba’ neputijiet (granchildren).Kienu ˙afna l-partitarji tal-Floriana f’Malta

li ˙assew it-tluq ta’ Billy min˙abba li kien at-takkant prominenti ˙afna u fih kienu qedjaraw plejer li flimkien ma’ o˙rajn li l-Flori-ana kienu jtellg˙u, ˙afna minnhom mill-ist-ess in˙awi ta’ Balzunetta, seta’jassiguralhom il-©ejjieni tal-klabb.

Óafna kienu wkoll ixebb˙u l-log˙ob ta’Billy, l-aktar fejn g˙andu x’jaqsam g˙all-

blalen fil-g˙oli, bir-ras, ma’ Tony Cauchi lifil-fatt kien ˙abib kbir ta’ Billy u saqag˙adlu bestman fit-tie© tieg˙u.

Minbarra l-˙biberija ma’ Tony, Billy qallili b˙ala l-idoli tieg˙u fil-futbol Malti, fosto˙rajn, kellu wkoll lil FurjaniΩ ie˙or, LollyBorg u d-difensur internazzjonali u tal-Val-letta u anke l-Melita Eagles, Joe Cilia

Meta wasal l-Awstralja, Billy beda ja˙-dem mal-Commonwealth Industrial Gases(CIG) b˙ala machine assembler. Fl-istesswaqt ried ukoll jissokta bil-kariera ta’ fut-boler u beda jilg˙ab mal-George Cross.IΩda ma kienx façli g˙alih. Sab il-livellog˙la minn ta’ Malta, kemm min˙abba likien hemm g˙add ta’ plejers tajbin minnmadwar id-dinja, u wkoll g˙ax ˙tie©lu jad-datta ru˙u g˙al esperjenza o˙ra ©dida, dikli jilg˙ab fuq il-˙axix, u mhux b˙al f’Malta,fuq ir-ramel jew l-art iebsa.

Il-karriera ta’ Billy mal-George Cross damet biss sen-tejn, min˙abba li ta’ 26 senakellu bronkite.

Kien ukoll ©ie˙ iç-çans lijibda jilg˙ab mat-tim tal-Polonja f’Melbourne, fejndi©a’ kien hemm plejer ie˙orMalti, ukoll eks Floriana,Tony Vella.Semmieli li dak iΩ-Ωmien fost

plejers o˙ra Maltin li kienujilag˙bu l-Awstralja kienhemm, Çensu Muscat, FreddyFalzon, Eddie Sacco, TwannyCassar u Freddy Abela(mag˙ruf b˙ala l-iSteak).

Mistoqsi jekk kellux xilog˙ba li baqg˙et impres-sjonata f’mo˙˙u, semma l-fi-nali tal-Cassar Cup f’Maltakontra l-akbar rivali fil-futbol,Sliema Wanderers. Florianakienu reb˙u 6-0 u Billy kienkiseb hat-trick. Dakinhar il-Floriana lanqas biss kellhomgowlkiper mag˙ruf g˙ad-dis-poΩizzjoni tag˙hom, u l-at-takkant Tony Cauchi melal-post bejn il-lasti. Kie-nettassew umiljazzjoni g˙as-Sliema.

Fost log˙biet o˙ra li jibqa’

jiftakar hemm tal-Floriana fil-kompetizzjonijiet Ewropej,kontra Ujpest Dozsa u Ip-swich u dik ta’ ˙biberija kon-tra l-Manchester United.Fl-Awstralja jibqa’ jiftakar il-log˙ba tal-George Cross kon-tra Prague (Sydney) metal-Maltin reb˙u 5-2. Illum fl-eta’ ta’ 75 sena, Billy

g˙adu jsegwi l-futbol, kemmfl-Awstralja, u wkoll ta’ Maltau g˙add ta’ pajjiΩi o˙ra. Qallili min˙abba fid-differenza tal-˙in ma’ pajjiΩi o˙ra ©ieli jibqa’mqajjem jew ikollu jqum f’xit-3 jew l-4. ta’ filg˙odu biexisegwihom fuq it-TV.

Kemm ilu l-Awstralja, BillynieΩel Malta fuq btala xi˙ames darbiet imma fiΩ-Ωmienli jΩur Malta ma jkunx hemmlog˙ob tal-football. Isib dif-

ferenza kbira fil-futbol t’issa f’Malta g˙almeta kien jilg˙ab hu. Isemmi d-diffe-renzafil-grawnds tal-futbol, fil-˙las lill-plejers, uanke l-˙afna log˙ob internazzjonali li jsir.Jg˙idli li fiΩ-Ωmien meta kien jilg˙ab g˙al

Floriana, kienu kull sena jirb˙u xi unur utazza jew trofew; imma b’dispjaçir jg˙id lillum il-livell tag˙hom naqas ˙afna u ilhom˙afna ma jirb˙u xi unur.

Personalment ilni naf lil Billy g˙al aktarminn madwar 15-il sena u dejjem sibtubniedem eΩemplari u ˙abib ma’ kul˙add.Huwa wkoll membru tar-Reskeon MalteseAssociation Seniors Group, f’Melbourne.

Billy baqa’ attiv fl-isports, imma mhuxf’dak li jin˙tie©lu wisq impenn fiΩiku b˙all-futbol, fil-log˙ob tal-boççi (stil Taljan) u hukompetittiv mhux ˙aΩin. Kemm-il darbaspiçça t-tieni fil-kompetizzjoni speçjali li ssirta’ kull sena g˙all-˙abta ta’ Jum il-Missier.

*minn pa©na 22 Billy u martu Doris illum (fuq wara)flimkien ma’ uliedhom, Jason u Tanya,u Marco (inset).

Billy Dalli waqt log˙ba tal-boççi

The first day of Round 13 produced a goal-bonanza, with 20 goals in four matches,with Hibernians and Valletta each scoring6-0 wins over Qormi and Tarxien respec-tively. Then in Round 14, both again wonthrough, with Hibernians defeating Sliemaand Valletta comfortably beating neighbursFloriana 4-1.

As a result Hibs, who have only droppedtwo points so far from 14 matches, con-firmed their 12-point lead over the reigning

champions who are on a six-match winningstreak before the top of table clash againstHibs on Sunday.When it comes to Birkirkara they returned

to winning ways after losing three of theirprevious four matches, and in fact regis-tered identical 3-1 victories over lowly-placed Ûebbu© and Naxxar to claim thirdposition (a point behind Valletta. Fourth are Mosta with 20 points followed

by Balzan (a point behind) after another

Spor tsSpor ts24 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday December 9, 2014

Hibernians v Qormi 6-0 Jorge Pereira da Silva (3), Edison Luis dos Santos (2), ClaytonFaillaValletta v Tarxien R. 6-0Abdelkarim Nafti, Hamza Barry (2),Lateef Elford-Alliyu (2), Raphael Kooh SohnaMosta v Pieta H. 3-1Daniel Mariano Bueno, Nemanja Milovanovic,Mateus Ribeiro dos Santos (M); Claudio Frances (P)

Naxxar L. v Balzan 3-1Terence Vella (2), Uchenna Emenike Mbachu (N); GianmarcoPiccioni (BFloriana v Sliema W. 2-0Amadou Samb, Conor BorgBirkirkara v Ûebbu© R. 3-1Mauricio Osmar Rodrigues Britto (Z); Rafael Ledesma,Ellinton Antonio Costa Morais, Edmond Agius (B)

Malta FootballPremier League

AustraliaA-League

Hibs maintain 12-point lead before Valletta meeting

Aaron Ciantar won his fourthworld title and the sixth withTeam Chaudron in Class VIpowerboat racing as he ledTeam Chaudron for first andfourth place in the two races atthe season’s last round, the AbuDhabi Grand Prix Champi-onship in a boat crewed by himand Frenchman DominiqueMartini.After comfortably winning the

opening race on Thursday,Ciantar and Martini encoun-tered problems in the secondrace Friday, but a fourth placefinish despite slowing to a crawland limping home sealed the championship title.Team Chaudron, who also won the Pole Position Cham-

pionship, finished with a total of 76 points, 10 ahead ofTommy One. Not for the first time this season the V1teams produced some great racing, with the lead changinghands and the race for the podium places hotly contested.

Team Chaudron had previously also won the Mediter-ranean Grand Prix in Ibiza, Spain in September, and theItalian GP in Terracina in October.

RESULTS: Round 9

RESULTS: Round 14

Hibernians v Sliema W. 2-1Edison Luis dos Santos (2)(H); Peter Xuereb (S)Valletta v Floriana 4-1Lateef Elford-Alliyu (3), Abdelkarim Nafti (V); Vito Plut (FBirkirkara v Naxxar L. 3-1Gilmar da Silva Ribeiro (N);Ryan Scicluna, Rafael Ledesma, Matheus Bissi da Silva (B)

Balzan v Qormi 1-1Oscar Guerrero (B); Ryan Micallef (Q)Mosta v Ûebbu© R. 1-1Matheus Ribeiro da Silva (M); Mauricio Rodrigues Britto (Z)Tarxien R. v Pieta H. 0-0

Round 13At the end of Round 9 of the A-League,

and by virtue of a 2-1 away win overSydney FC, Perth Glory retained their one-point lead over Melbourne Victory who fol-lowed their 3-2 home win over Adelaide Utdin Round 8 that had reduced the gap withPerth to just a point, with a 3-0 away successat Central Coast.Kevin Muscat’s Melbourne V’s win against

Adelaide came in a frenetic, ill-tempered tiemarking their official 10-year anniversary.All the goals were scored in the first halfPerth could only draw 1-1 away to defend-

ing champions Brisbane Roar in Round 8. Meanwhile, after going their first seven

games without defeat, Adelaide have now

Perth, Melbourne V. sail on regardlesslost their last two games and are relegated totheir position, two points behind Glory. thecampaign.

Round 8

Melbourne V. v Adelaide U 3-2Brisbane Rv Perth Glory 1-1Western Sydney v Sydney FC 1-1Wellington Ph v Melbourne C. 5-1 Newcastle Jets v Central Coast 1-1

Maltese powerboat team wins sixth world title

Sydney FC v Perth Glory 1-2Central Coast v Melbourne V. 0-3Newcastle Jets v Wellington Ph 1-3Adelaide U v Western Sydney W 2-0Melbourne C v Brisbane Roar 1-0

Aaron Ciantar near the TeamChaudron boat in Abu Dhabi.Below: Aaron (left) celebrat-ing the title victory with team-mate Dominque Martini

draw. They have not managed to win fortheir last eight ties, since September 27.Floriana won the ‘Old Firm’ derby againstSliema W. by 2-0 before the Blues sufferreda second successive loss against Hibernians.