In a 145-minute speech in Parliament on Monday evening, Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech said that Budget 2025 is indicative that the present government "is tired" and has "no plan or strategic direction."
After presenting his critical reaction of last week's budget announcement, Grech concluded that the country requires "a quality government - a Nationalist government."
To open his speech, the Opposition leader stated that the present administration is a "government of empty slogans" before declaring that "this government cannot solve [the people's] problems because of its own actions."
"Instead of addressing the people's problems, this government has ended up controlling people so they don't talk about the very issues it has created," Grech said.
Throughout his entire and extended intervention, the PN's leader iterated that the country is moving without a vision or direction. Originally intended to be two hours long, Grech was allotted an additional 15 minutes of time to present his full intervention, with the government whip Naomi Cachia sarcastically remarking that the PN leader had chosen "quantity not quality."
PN in government will stop people having to work a year extra - Grech
When addressing the country's increasing national debt, the PN leader condemned the announced measures aimed at tackling this subject. Grech said that in last Monday's Budget 2025 announcement, Finance Minister Clyde Caruana told us that the national debt is to keep increasing by an additional €1 billion every year, despite the fact that Malta's debt has grown to a "record" €10 billion from €5 billion at the start of PM Robert Abela's tenure.
On behalf of the Nationalist Party, Grech decried the announced measure that all persons below the age of 48, i.e., those born after 1976, will need to work for an additional year in order to receive a full pension when they retire. Additionally, he said that if elected to power, PN will eliminate this measure altogether.
Shifting from national debt to the societal distribution of wealth, Bernard Grech remarked that while the energy and food subsidies being offered by government are good, what is currently in place is not enough. After saying that persons in or near poverty require greater assistance, he implied that subsidies should be oriented towards this segment of society, rather than be distributed to everyone at a flat rate.
He also shared that, according to statistics, "the distribution of wealth in this country is amongst the most unequal in all of Europe." Grech thus referenced a study conducted by the Central Bank of Malta which found that the top 10% of people in Malta hold nearly half the wealth of the entire country; through another perspective, this tenth of the population has four times the wealth of the bottom 50%.
He added that the number of pensioners at risk of poverty and social exclusion has doubled since 2013 to around 30,000 people, and that similarly, there are 18,000 children in this financial position. Grech said that this environment is not conducive to one that empowers youth, as the government says it is, and offered some proposals to improve this situation, such as strengthening social benefits in vulnerable cases, mobilizing specialised NGO services, and adopting social governance mechanisms that reflect the country's demographic changes.
Current economic model is short-sighted, PN leader says
Grech reiterated PN's stance that the present economic model is short-sighted, is based on consumption, and must be updated. He thus expressed disappointment that this year's budget did not offer the creation of any new economic sectors within the Maltese islands.
He backed his party's position by referring to some recent scientific surveys that were carried out by EY and the Chamber of SMEs respectively. EY's survey recently found that Malta's attractiveness with respect to foreign investment has decreased significantly within an eight-year span, going from 87% in 2016 to just 54% as of this year. The Chamber of SMEs' survey concluded that 80% of entrepreneurs believe that Malta is heading in the wrong direction.
The PN leader commented that "the people want direction, they want a plan" and that "all social partners are agreeing with us in saying that [the government] is messing up."
"A government led by me, if I am entrusted, will see that quality of life is the measure for every decision we take," he said.
He also said that despite featuring the word "quality" several times, Budget 2025 featured no clear indication on how the country is to transition from quantity to the designated quality.
Two of the biggest talking points for the Nationalist Party following Budget 2025 were the increase in cost-of-living allowances (COLA) and the proposed tax cuts that will come into effect in 2025.
Grech once again criticised that COLA is still being taxed upon and repeated that PN would ensure that COLA is not taxed if it had the power to make this decision. Grech also said that to assist private companies with the prolonged inflation, the party would propose reducing their financial burden through tax credits as a means to provide assistance without forcing consumers to shoulder higher costs through higher prices.
Speaking about the proposed income tax cuts, Bernard Grech said that these have come too late as people are already struggling financially. He suggested that the parent tax bracket is reduced across the board to further help parents with dependent children.
'Gozo requires measures that are tailor-made for it'
Grech condemned Gozo's treatment in the latest Budget, arguing that given the sister island's "double insularity," "Gozo requires measures that are tailor-made for it."
"Gozo's double insularity comes with deficiencies at an infrastructural level, with jobs, planning, and at a social level," he said, "This is a reality that if left deeply misunderstood, it can hold back the island of Gozo from moving forward."
The Opposition leader said that Gozitan roads and healthcare are currently in a sorry state and that these aspects are having a direct impact on the region's investment. Moreover, Grech described that Gozo's poor road infrastructure is hindering its connectivity with Malta - another subject of importance that he said was given enough importance through Budget 2025.
To improve the connectivity between Malta and Gozo, Bernard Grech for an alternate plan to be developed on top of the present ferry connection through the Mġarr port. He described how maritime congestion is leading to chaos on land and at sea and that the total dependence on this access point, as demonstrated through recent bomb threats on the Gozo Channel, can easily be undermined.
He also condemned the omission of any mention of the Gozo General Hospital from this year's budget.
Health and mental health: No new investment in primary care
Grech said it was shameful, yet not surprising, that Budget 2025 "does not give any increase in assistance for illnesses and does not propose any new investment in primary care."
After mentioning the Vitals-Steward scandal - as well as other corruption scandals like the social benefits racket, identity card racket, and the practice of ministers employing each other's partners, or a strategy to combat corruption - he discussed the concerningly increasing statistics vis-à-vis the poor mental health of Maltese people.
After publicizing findings that place Malta as one of the world's most stressed populations, Grech condemned the present administration for announcing and giving up on the mental health hospital project before a brick was laid. He declared that if elected, PN will construct these facilities and introduce an educational curriculum to help people identify what they are feeling.
The Nationalist Party questioned the government's commitment to the natural environment through a list of points to express a lack of full commitment to the cause, such as the government's absent plan to not dispose of sewage in our seas, the €3,000 reduction to the electric vehicles grant, and the absence of the publicized metro project in Budget 2025.
Grech stated that "corruption has become the new normal" in this country and was concerned about the "eerie silence" on the subject in its lack of acknowledgment throughout Budget 2025. He added that if elected, PN will work to eliminate corruption from its core.
On the subject of education, Grech described that the ambitions of this sector are not just about building schools, though about better supporting educators. Positively, he commended the signing of the educators' sectoral agreement earlier this summer, despite the fact that it came after much industrial actions.
To conclude his extended speech, Grech stated that PN believes in the country, and specifically in the skills of Maltese and Gozitan people. He ended by saying that when these people are listened to and given direction, "they will be successful - for themselves and for the country," and implied that this focus needs to be honed in on further.