Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today pledged that farmers would not have to pay income tax on their earnings from farming, should the PL be re-elected to govern the country.

Addressing a political activity in Gharghur, the Prime Minister said that currently, farmers pay a special 3% income tax rate, while adding that if elected, like fisherman, they would no longer have to pay anything.

Another proposal put forward by the Prime Minister tonight, is that farmers would be allowed to transfer their land lease (qbiela) between each other, and would not need to be father and son to do so.

Dr Muscat said that he knows the problems faced by farmers very well.

The discussion with the Prime Minister also turned to hunting and trapping. The Prime Minister said that "at the end of the day hunting and trapping is emotional for many people. You find those for whom hunting and trapping is their lives., and you find those who are against it."

"I believe that politicians should speak clearly and not speak depending on where they are. Simon Busuttil said he was in favour of hunting, and the former BirdLife Director said he told him he was against it. Birdlife know where I stand and so do hunters"

"When I saw the petition for the referendum, I said I would respect the law, but will stick my neck out and say that spring hunting should continue. I think that decision was a lose-lose situation. On the one hand there were the environmentalists who will never forgive me. On the other hand, the hunters still say that I closed the hunting season later, and that fines rose. So I got hit from all directions."

Dr Muscat said that he believes hunters have a point on fines. "When we raised fines we did so to send a signal that there should not be abuse. We did not do this for the courts to issue the highest fine all time. I am not criticising the courts but I am just stating facts."

"If a hunter breaks the law on purpose then he should not be defended, but if there is a hunter who makes a genuine mistake, there should be relativity. We need to look at the fines and revise them to make them more realistic."

"We kept our word for the trapping season. It will reopen after the Ornis Committee recommendation."

Dr Muscat did say that they would need to stay on what the courts decide once decided.

"My appeal to this section of Maltese society is for there to be rationality. "I think many hunters abided by the law, but there is a minority who do things badly. I am happy that Federation kicks out these criminals."

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat also said that the PL will do justice by those investors in the BOV Property Fund.

The case of the BOV Property Fund is currently before the arbiter, he said, adding that the he does not know if a decision will be taken in a few days or in a few weeks.

"We will do justice by the investors in the property fund. It is a question of principle for me. Obviously the aim was for it to conclude in the past five years, I cannot intervene for the arbiter to speed up but government is committed to do justice by them.

Turning to the Felix Busuttil, the founder of YADA who spoke at yesterday's mass meeting, Dr Muscat said that he was attacked on the Forza Nazzjonali website. He expressed his solidarity with Mr Busuttil.

"When they asked me about Godfrey I said best luck to him. On the other side, just because he spoke in favour of this movement, the worst in some people came out. "To my understanding there was homophobia."

"Felix was a role model and is a role model for thousands of youths who are in delicate moments in their lives. "

"Malta needs more role models like him."

The Prime Minister said that government needs to inspire the Maltese, that the best days are yet to come. Despite how we have improved things over the past few years, there is still a lot of good to do.

He said that he wants future generations to say that there is no better place than Malta to start a family, find a job, and move ahead in life.

"We can expect better health services, educational service, less tax, more family time. We are trying to say that we are not only discussing wage increases, but for the first time, we are speaking about something different, on time. A number of our proposals are based on family time, including flexitime for workers, giving public holidays back to workers etc."

"Time is something that money cannot buy."

He said that currently, Malta has an extremely low unemployment rate, lower than any era in our history. "This is not by luck or fortune, but due to policies.  The average wage in Malta is €17,000. The €4,000 that would be sent to childcare are being saved by the people. It helps parents say it is worth it to go out and work."

He described a recent conversation he had with a person with disability. The person told him "the fact that I leave the house each day, and that I am working with people, having a life away from home , I feel useful. This is something that gave me life."

He said that 1,000 persons with disability found work this legislature, adding that persons with disability had even given up looking for work before certain measures were implemented by this government.

Dr Muscat poked fun at Dr Busuttil. "He said something I agree with, that persons with disability who cannot work should be given benefits equal to the minimum wage. I agree 100%, in fact we included this in the last budget," Dr Muscat quipped.

A pledge of loyalty

PL Candidate and Marsascala Mayor Mario Calleja offered his loyalty, and pledged that he would never join a "coalition of confusion.

He said that god forbid there would not be environmentalists in this country trying to control government. He mentioned the AUM project, and the controversy which erupted But I respect the environmentalists. "What annoys me, however, are those people who have ulterior motives, saying that the protest at Zonqor was attended by many who did not even know where Zonqor was."

He said that the AUM was going to take up more land than it did. "You were so genuine that when you saw the controversy, you met with the environmentalists and decided to reduce the footprint there."

Turning to the St Anthony plant, he praised government's proposal, and said it will be removed thanks to you, a man of vision, a man who knows what he is doing. "If we are re-elected I have no doubt that plant will be removed."

Gozo Channel Chairman Joe Cordina spoke of tourism, ad said that today, tourism operators are considering remaining open year round, "where before in the winter months, many would close and Gozo would look like a cemetery."

He mentioned projects, like the Citadel, explaining that they help boost the Gozitan economy. Turning to the PL proposals for workers, Mr Cordina said that the rate of tax on part-time workers with a full-time job will reduce, and said that this applies for both workers and self-employed.  He added that VAT will also reduce. He mentioned projects in the pipeline, such as the Barts medical school, the fibre-optic cable, and the Gozo tunnel which will boost the Gozitan economy. "Gozo saw the best years over the past four years, but through Joseph Muscat, Gozo will see even better years ahead."

Parliamentary Secretary for Sport Chris Agius again attacked Simon Busuttil for saying there are social housing problems in Cottonera, saying that one should not identify such problems with one locality. He said that roads in the area were fixed over the past four years, from the situation they were originally in.

He described measures taken by government for youths over the years, and said that when it comes to sports, "we went through a revolution. We have a new pool in Birzebbugia, we are building a new pool in Marsascala, we will have investment in the Marsa track, and in the coming days we will start working for Malta to have an international shooting range."

Turning to the car racing track in Ta' Qali, he said that if the private sector doesn't build it, a PL government will.