In the face of the most disgraceful, distorting attacks on the Prime Minister’s family, we stay focused on the job: building Europe’s No.1 fastest-growing economy. We share the benefits of that growth with those who matter most – the people of Malta and Gozo, ensuring a better work-life balance for everyone in a country that will move through its best time ever.

 

The real issues

Labour is talking about real issues and specifically about the centrepiece of our campaign – spreading the benefits of the economic boom so that hard-working Maltese and Gozitan families really feel the difference. Today is all about helping the families who have built our current, huge success by measures such as expanded parental leave, more help for Maltese home-buyers and new tax exemptions for pensioners, families and the self-employed.

The unthinkable for long decades is now a reality: an all-inclusive and responsible minimum wage increase for the first time in 27 years, with an established mechanism for reviews at regular intervals. Our prosperity has a purpose – we are building a strong economy that works for the nation as a whole. This agreement – once just a dream – has only been made possible because of the strong and stable economy we are building as the basic foundation for the well-being of future generations.

It is time for the standard of living of everyone to improve – not just the lucky few at the top. It is time for all Maltese and Gozitans to get their share of our country’s success. The past four years have shown our support for families by turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones.  

 

Gozo – facts and fiction

The simple fact that the Opposition dished out haphazard or recycled proposals for Gozo is proof enough that they still consider Gozitans as second-class citizens. At least half of the PN’s 100 so-called proposals are in the process of being implemented or have already been budgeted for by the Labour government. It is fascinating how anyone can ever pledge measures before elections without knowing how they are going to implement them.

Indeed, I was personally very intrigued to see the mention of dementia-friendly communities for Gozo as one of the PN’s proposals for Gozo. Well, as far as I’m concerned this is no longer a proposal but a reality – since we have already done it. Only this week, we presented our Gozo dementia-friendly community project as a best practice to the European Experts’ Committee on Dementia, on the same day that Malta – as part of the EU Presidency trio – together with the Netherlands and Slovakia, signed a joint declaration to further push the dementia agenda.  

My Dutch and Slovakian counterparts were indeed impressed when they visited San Lawrenz dementia-friendly village and our dementia Day Activity Centre at Dar Padova. The same sentiment and feeling was also expressed by our Prime Minister and Michelle Muscat when they visited the project last week. I assume that, in view of the public positive comments and feeling about our dementia projects in Gozo, Dr Busuttil felt encouraged to copy it.

 

The disability sector

Again, most of the initiatives that the PN is proposing for the disability sector have either already been introduced by the current government, or are just a crude cut-and-paste from our 2017 budget commitments. I just wonder whether Dr Busuttil was ever aware of what has been going on in Parliament for these last four years. The PN’s proposals concerning the disability sector prove that it has wasted its four years in Opposition focusing on personal attacks and lies, instead of developing concrete proposals or at least learning something from our performance.

On the PN’s proposal for disability allowances to be increased to match the minimum wage, a specific reform is already being implemented as part of the government’s plan to revamp social benefits. We want to wean people off social benefits and ensure that they are in employment but, at the same time, improve the benefits of people who genuinely cannot work due to severe disability. Indeed, a law that was passed in Parliament a few weeks ago will see the disability allowance gradually increase so that eventually it will be equivalent to the minimum wage. Incidentally, the PN’s proposal for disabled people to retain their full disability allowance once they find a job has been the law since 2015 and its proposal for all amputees to benefit from disability allowances started operating during the past year.

As for the PN’s proposal to increase the allowance for children with disabilities, the Labour government already increased it by 20 per cent in 2014 – the first increase in decades. Moreover, the PN is promising to increase the number of residential homes for people with disabilities when the current government has already built five such homes in four years, with a further seven in the pipeline. And when it comes to making the homes of people with disability more accessible, the Labour government has already spent €893,000 on doing this to 240 homes across the country.  

The same goes for the PN promise to allocate LSAs to children with disabilities at government summer schools, when such an initiative is already in place. I am often surprised that some people do not even know what laws have been passed in Parliament and that we have accomplished a silent revolution with giant strides to improve the lives of people with disabilities and their families in the past four years.

 

The elderly

A new Labour government is renewing its fight against poverty by coming up with a series of policy-driven targets. In the past four years we have managed to reduce the number of people living in poverty to 19,000. Together with a long list of financial, fiscal and social measures, Labour has addressed – and will continue to address – all those who fall within the vulnerability bracket, many of whom are part of my remit as Parliamentary Secretary for the elderly and disability sectors.

The people of Gozo certainly note that the Opposition’s proposals directly refer to what is actually already being implemented or has been budgeted for by the government. The availability of residential services beds through public private partnerships are a first for Gozo, with the aim of having 500 beds available in homes for the elderly. This means an unprecedented programme of investment and services that will address the needs of an ageing population and contemporaneously create employment opportunities.

Every so often, Gozo is described as ‘a care home’ – a label I have never accepted. That is why I envisaged this investment programme in the elderly sector as a bold step in transforming a challenging reality into opportunity both with regard to service provision but more so for job creation and specialisation in care at various levels. This may potentially create a niche international market with a satellite structure and package with the new hospital and Barts University and medical school.

This ambitious vision that I have has now been incorporated in our election pledges and made public. It also complements the various other projects such Learning Day-Centres, night shelters and respite services in the long list of community services that I am proud to have introduced for the first time to hundreds of older people in Gozo.

 

Labour’s vision

Labour’s vision goes far beyond what others could ever think of. We look at the whole situation and focus on specific family needs and particular scenarios. We will introduce a new form of children’s allowance of €300 to be paid on the birth or adoption of a child. We will also increase the €70 a week allowance to foster families to €100 a week. For couples who are in the process of adopting, the government will provide rebates on travelling expenses and will also give direct assistance of up to €10,000 to mitigate part of the legal costs involved.

In a bid to help families plan their future, we will also provide parents with a tax credit of up to €2,000 a year to encourage them to start planning their unborn children’s pension plan. A new Labour government will also cater for people who are separated or divorced but still paying an allowance to the other party so that they will not to be taxed as a single person.

Malta and Gozo are at a crossroads: a sad return to bygone times of chronic inertia and accepting leftovers or the dynamic way of moving ahead to the best times our people deserve. I am confident my fellow Gozitans look forward to the wellbeing of their own and future generations.