Economic growth is the only way policies such as rent subsidies and increased children can go on, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Sunday.

Speaking after during an event in Birkirkara, just a day after Law Commissioner Franco Debono called him the most corrupt politician in Maltese history, Muscat emphasized how economic growth is imperative to a society where we help those who are in need, but encourage those who are being successful.

He did not bring up or discuss the comments made by Debono throughout his speech.

The Prime Minister's scheduled Sunday speech revolved around the theme of economic growth through globalization and the need to open our doors to investment, which should be aided through immigration, responsible development, and increased opportunity with the incentive to take it.

"We keep attracting work towards our country. This is done as a means to an end. Our goal is to redistribute the wealth, but to share this wealth, you must first have what to share."

After creating and incentivizing work, the Prime Minister maintained that due to there being so much work, there was a need to bring more human resources from abroad to satisfy our needs.

"The fundamental point is that this economic growth is needed for our system to be sustainable, and all we need to do if we doubt it, is look at the countries around us that are closing themselves off."

He pointed out that big and strong as a country may be, countries that close themselves of are suffering the consequences of their actions.

Women in the workplace

Muscat noted that we had a situation in Malta where more than 50% of university graduates are women and that they were not going to work.

"We recognized that one of the largest problems we had in the country was the fact that our society was still expecting that the mother takes all the child-rearing responsibilities.

With the child care service, we managed to free enormous potential."

The system of welfare for unemployment was also touched upon as whilst before an individual would not receive any benefits after finding employment, now those benefits will be kept as they decrease incrementally over three years.

This, he said, led to thousands of people entering the job market.

Immigration & Housing

Whilst on the topic of immigration, the Prime Minister noted the issue of the limitations of the size of the island.

"Here we must see what our strategy for the future is - I understand the argument of those who say we must completely open the doors, and I agree with that."

This is affecting the rental market, but whilst agreeing with critics on that, he queried how they are then being told not to develop any further.

"This is all one chain. You cannot cherry-pick."

He pointed out that his administration, till today, is the only government that has not extended the boundaries of development, with the last time this boundary was extended being in 2006 by a Nationalist government.

MP Robert Abela

Abela spoke before the Prime Minister, although he echoed many of his points in that which had to do with the growing economy and the need for development.

The primary aim of our country, he insisted, should be eradicating poverty.

"By increasing employment and attracting more opportunities for employment. To develop our country in a sensible manner."

Whilst leaving space for proper environmental criticism, Abela suggested that land reclamation should be examined as a viable option as was done in the Freeport, Msida and Marsa Sports Club.

He also touched on the much-debated race track and explained that there is a lot of work being done to have a racetrack in Malta that will bring tourists and new investments.