The Prime Minister yesterday started a visit to Australia, where he will have official talks with his Australian counterpart John Howard and meet the Maltese communities in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra.
Dr Fenech Adami will also be visiting New Zealand, where he will have talks with the recently elected Prime Minister Helen Clark as well as visit Maltese communities there.
The first meetings Dr Fenech had with Maltese in Australia showed that they have a keen interest in what is going on in Malta and are keen to know how European Union membership would affect them.
In a radio interview conducted by Antoine Said Pullicino and Frank Zammit, broadcast by the Special Broadcasting Services, Dr Fenech Adami said Maltese living in Australia who hold dual citizenship would benefit from what the EU had to offer, just as any other European.
He said the government had changed citizenship laws in 1989 and all those Maltese who had lost their citizenship when acquiring another one had automatically re-acquired their Maltese citizenship.
Dr Fenech Adami said Australian-Maltese students would be able to study anywhere in Europe while those who were enterprising and wanted to seek new pastures could work in Europe.
Dr Fenech Adami explained that the government had obtained special concessions in a number of fields in negotiations with the EU. The one concerning the purchase of property by foreigners did not effect migrants who had lived in Malta for at least five years as these could buy property just like all other Maltese.
Those who had never lived in Malta were treated like people living in all EU countries and could buy a first property for their own use, as long as the property fell in the price range established by government.
During the radio interview, the prime minister had the opportunity to rectify several misconceptions about the effects of EU membership, such as that by joining the EU, Malta would have to introduce abortion.
Dr Fenech Adami said it was not true at all that the EU imposed abortion on member states and cited the separate statements issued by European and Maltese bishops on the matter. He also said that the Maltese government had taken a firm stand against abortion in international fora and he had received a letter from the Holy See to thank the government for its stand.
Dr Fenech Adami spoke about what was going on in Malta with regard to foreign investment and Malta's position in its negotiations with the EU. He said the recognition of Maltese as an official language within the EU was a big achievement and there were already vacancies for some 120 people to work as translators to translate EU documentation into Maltese.
The Prime Minister, who is accompanied by deputy prime minister Lawrence Gonzi, personal assistant Richard Cachia Caruana and Dr Gonzi's private secretary Remig Bartolo, arrived in Australia on Friday morning. Mrs Fenech Adami and Mrs Gonzi are also accompanying the delegation.
One of Dr Fenech Adami's first engagements was a visit to the State Library of New South Wales, where he presented a number of books about Malta.
The Maltese delegation were shown a small sample of old books about Malta as well as some old Australian newspapers, one of which featured on the front page the visit of the late Archbishop Michael Gonzi to Australia in September 1953.
Pleasantly surprised by the newspaper which featured his great-uncle, Dr Gonzi said he was three months old when the visit had taken place.
In the afternoon the Maltese delegation visited the Civic Park in Penile Hill where wreaths were laid at the Australian-Maltese Bicentennial Commemorative memorial.
The Prime Minister later visited St Dominic's hostel for the aged in Blacktown, where he mingled with the elderly residing there and unveiled plaques commemorating the opening of the amenities hall. At the hostel, Dr Fenech Adami was welcomed by Dr Stephen Gatt, chairman of the management board, and Sr Georgina Sultana, the hostel's administrator.
The Prime Minister later visited the La Valette Social Centre, where he met and addressed the Maltese community of New South Wales. He was symbolically presented with pine trees by Pauline Calleja and Katherine Fenech from the Social Centre's Youth Group. Both had studied in Malta as part of an exchange programme between the universities of Malta and Sydney.