The Labour Party said Tuesday that in his report, the Auditor General has dismissed the "baseless and senseless" attacks made by the Nationalist Party, which it did to "undermine investment in the country through the cash rebate in the film industry."

The PL issued a statement where it replied to the PN's claim today that the Auditor General's report stated that the Film Commission concealed how it spent millions in taxpayer funds.

The PN also said that the Auditor General found the Malta Film Commission as having failed in various ways, including not providing account records and contracts, failing to provide minutes or sufficient details on the Malta Film Week expenditure, and had serious governance deficiencies.

In response, the PL said that the Auditor General's report "clearly stated that the cash rebate is an important tool for attracting foreign direct investment in cinematic productions, emphasizing that this incentive is contributing economic value to the country."

It said that in fact, the Auditor agreed with a study conducted by the Film Commission on the cash rebate, which indicated that for every €1 received in cash rebate, a foreign film generates €3 for the Maltese economy.

"These remarks in the Auditor General's report starkly contrast with the attacks made by the Nationalist Party, which claimed that the cash rebate was merely a waste of taxpayers' money and contributed nothing to our country's economy," the PL said.

It continued that the Auditor General also recognized quality job creation from this industry that benefit Maltese and Gozitan workers, "who have enjoyed a record number of productions coming to our country." The PN had said that the report found that there was no job creation in the film industry.

The PL said that over the past seven years, Malta has attracted films with a combined budget of approximately €600 million.

"The Auditor General dismissed the Opposition's criticism, which revealed a fundamental misunderstanding of how the cash rebate works," the PL statement read.

The PL said that this is yet another setback for the Nationalist Party, which "also faced defeat in Court yesterday after attempting to censor information about how the Budget 2025 would affect the public."