A visibly tired-looking Prime Minister arrived with Mrs Catherine Gonzi and the rest of the Maltese delegation in Sydney yesterday, and immediately continued with the list of engagements which have been prepared for his Australia trip. The official programme, which has seen Lawrence Gonzi visiting five states in 12 days, with non-stop back-to back functions, has proven to be rather ambitious and is now taking its toll.

On his arrival he was interviewed by journalist Monica Attard, who presents Sunday Profile on ABC Local Radio.

During a series of meetings with associations in Sydney, Dr Gonzi welcomed the fact that several concrete proposals were put forward on how to improve the economic and cultural ties between Malta and Australia.

Australian-born Chev. Syd Borg, president of the Australian-Maltese Chamber of Commerce is the CEO of several IT and other companies. He pointed out that they have opened membership of the association to businesses owned by Greeks, Italians and Germans, “because we believe that if our job is to be done correctly as a bilateral trade mission we cannot just rely on Maltese-Australian businesses to trade with Malta. By inviting other nationalities who run successful businesses in Australia we can court them, and investigate opportunities to use Malta as a stepping stone for trade with Southern Europe and North Africa.”

Among other initiatives mentioned by Chev. Borg was that of developing ties with Malta in the financial business sector, the call centre industry and even the marketing and selling of a new product which draws out 98 per cent of the salt from walls and marble.

Perhaps one of his most innovative suggestions was that, despite the distance, Malta should be doing more to attract Australian conventions and conferences. Pointing out that organisers of these types of corporate events always opt to go to islands for their annual meetings, Chev. Borg felt that Malta was not doing enough to promote itself in Australia in this sector, and Dr Gonzi promised to look into this possibility.

A suggestion to create a Maltese Migration museum in Malta was among the proposals put forth by the Maltese Community Council, although the idea of asking people to pay for having a loved one’s name inscribed on a ‘Migrants’ Wall’ was met with ironic laughter by the Prime Minister. “Oh, yes, they would really applaud me if I suggested that!”

It was also regrettable, the council members said, that the story of why so many Maltese were compelled to leave their country in search of employment, which is part of our history, was not really taught in the Maltese school curriculum. This is a theme which is brought up continuously by the Maltese communities who seem to feel that the Maltese in Malta do not really appreciate how heartbreaking it was for them to leave, and how many sacrifices the migrants had to make in order to “make it” in what was for them an alien land.

As it ages and reaches its twilight years, the first generation of migrants tends to become more morose. We have heard stories of elderly people in old folks’ homes who have spoken English all their life, who suddenly revert to their childhood and insist on speaking only in Maltese. This is the generation which feels the tug of its homeland the most, and in this context it is easier to understand why the introduction of direct satellite transmissions of Maltese television programmes would be a more feasible option than asking these 70 and 80-year-olds to suddenly learn how to use the Internet.

Meanwhile, we have found that the city of Sydney certainly lives up to its reputation. From the time our small plane landed on a runway which juts out into the ocean, we could understand why the residents describe it as “the fairest city in the fairest land”. It’s an exciting mixture of skyscrapers, malls, numerous restaurants and quaint shops, set against a lovely harbour with the Sydney Opera House in the background. The brisk, bracing cold of Canberra has already been forgotten as the warm spring-like air means we no longer need our coats. People in T-shirts and shorts mingle with others in business suits doing some quick shopping during their office break. We were warned that we would find continuous traffic, but perhaps many Australians don’t realise just how much traffic snarls our own roads.

An evening reception for the Maltese community, hosted by the Premier of New South Wales at his offices, also provided a bit of celebrity gossip. We were informed by our driver that this same building was used for a shot of Tom Cruise hurtling down an elevator in Mission Impossible.