Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that no matter what happens in the hunting referendum, the government will come down hard on all those who break the law.

The Prime Minister was addressing a political activity in Qala, Gozo and again reiterated that he will vote in favour of keeping Spring Hunting. "It is clear, the Leader of the Opposition will vote in favour but hopes it will not go through. I took this position knowing I am in a minority, however I always believe that this country must be equal to other EU countries. The easiest thing I could have done was wash my hands of it all. I believe this government is strong enough to take decisions against those who break the law". He said that there are people who are fed up with some hunters who bully others, "yet I believe the genuine hunters should not pay for the actions of a few. It is a question of respect and tolerance".

Turning to allegations against the husband of former Gozo Minister Giovanna Debono, the Prime Minister alleged that PN Whip had been informed of what was going on, and asked whether anyone else knew. He urged those with information to come forward through the Whistle-blowers act.

Dr Muscat addressed the medical sector, stating that waiting lists for operations, hospitals and medicines were three problematic areas. He said that each week there are only, on average, 5 out of stock medicines yet for the past three weeks not a single medicine was out of stock. As for waiting lists for operations, he said these are now non-existent. "We have a new hospital, which is smaller than the previous hospital. St Luke's already had the problem of people waiting in corridors yet someone decided to build a smaller hospital".

He said that foreigners from North Africa and the Gulf seek treatment in hospitals worse than those found in Malta, adding that "we cannot treat them here as we do not have the space. We want to turn this into an opportunity and the first step was to take on a strong partner, Barts and London Medical School.. So why did they want to open up another school abroad? As England would not allow them to establish another campus and thus they had to turn students away".

"Our first choice for the medical school's location was Gozo as the Gozitans cannot continue to feed off scraps falling from Malta's table. Work will soon begin on the school's construction."

He spoke of the €200 million investment government plans to rake in, stating that Gozo will have a new hospital on par with Mater Dei, and that a call for investors will be made. Aside from increasing bed space while keeping health services free for Maltese and Gozitans, "there will be 150 beds for foreigners who would pay for operations, thus making free healthcare for locals more sustainable. We will use the same model used for Enemalta". Turning to St Lukes, he said that he held off on re-opening the Hospital as he wanted it to be of the same level as Mater Dei. "Through the €200 million investment, St Lukes will be reopened. We will go to the private sector and tell them... Give us  €200 million, we will arrange hospitals with these funds while also building new ones. We will rent the beds from them and the care would be free for locals".

1,200 new jobs through health plan

"Through this investment we will create 1,200 new jobs. I am sure we will find investors and in the coming months we will see the  €200 million investment".

The Prime Minister said that there are not enough doctors and nurses and government would need to hire foreigners at the start. In the coming years we must encourage youths to enter the caring professions, and all professions associated with healthcare in order to ensure that most of these jobs go to Maltese and Gozitans. If anyone thinks this will be the only development, they are wrong. Through this investment, most operations one would currently need to travel to Malta, could be handled in Gozo. In the coming days we will be in a position to announce another major investment in the health sector as if one believes that we are out of breath, I would say we have not yet started".

He said that the quality of roads and infrastructure will be a priority, as "we are building a country that will rise a few levels compared with what we are used to. This is real investment in Gozo".

Dr Muscat also addressed Enemalta, arguing that when coming to government, Enemalta was found €800 million in debt. He stressed that businesses will see a tariff cut in the coming weeks.

Parliamentary Secretary for Planning Michael Falzon, during his intervention, spoke of the 500 full-time jobs created by government in Gozo. "Just over two years ago, there were those who said that with Labour in government, we would end up requiring a bailout, yet now we have the lowest unemployment rate in Maltese history and one of the lowest rates of inflation we have ever had. Most importantly, we have the most optimistic population in the whole of the EU. None of us believe we managed to do this on our own, we managed to do this with you and we want to do more with you".

He spoke of the Spring Hunting Referendum, stating that everyone must make their own opinion, adding that "everyone knows how I will vote".