A large number of Maltese citizens resident in Australia, particularly those who had signed the petition presented to the Maltese Parliament on 29 January by Leader of the Opposition Dr Simon Busuttil, were shocked by the behaviour of the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr George Vella, who chose not to listen to the introduction presented by Dr Busuttil and who was caught allegedly laughing at some joke shared with one of his parliamentary colleagues.

Dr Vella’s ‘point of order’ clarification that he was not even considering what Dr Busuttil was saying and that there was no need to table the petition, as he was already aware of the petition and what it called for, simply added insult to injury.

Dr Vella’s conduct was particularly surprising, when one considers the fact that the Minister is the ‘ex officio’ chairman of the Council for Maltese Living Abroad. If the Minister had no time to listen to the presentation, one can only imagine how much personal interest he has in issues affecting overseas resident Maltese.

We believe that the Minister should seriously consider making a public apology for his conduct, which in our view shows a lack of respect for overseas residents of Maltese background.

Yours faithfully,

Victor G. Borg & Joseph A. Stafrace

Victoria

Australia