Visiting the Maltese community in Australia, the Prime Minister pointed out that we should refer to our brethren living there as "Maltese persons living abroad" rather than as emigrants.

His visit in Australia and New Zealand reaffirms the Government's belief that there should be no frontiers between Maltese persons living in Malta and those living abroad.

His visit is that of a leader who cares equally for all the members of his community. It reflects the attitude of a father who makes time for all the family. Those members living abroad do not deserve to be treated any less favourably than those living in Malta.

Many of them or their fathers or grandfathers had ventured abroad in the first place when our country's economic conditions did not cater sufficiently for all its citizens. Persons were at that stage encouraged to take up such opportunities through various pro-emigration policies, apart from farewell band marches to see them off at port.

I still remember statistics weighing heavily on the side of those leaving the country as opposed to those returning to Malta, until the present Government reversed the trend completely and there were far more Maltese making their way back to Malta than Maltese seeking to pursue careers abroad. In the latter case they would only do it as a matter of choice rather than as a result of feeling constrained to do so.

It has not always been so and achievements made by the present Government over the past years bear repeating.

The most important milestone is when we enacted legislation that provides for dual nationality. This was provided automatically without the need of any action on the part of Maltese persons living abroad, and as the term "dual nationality" implies, without the need to renounce to their newly acquired citizenship.

The present Government introduced dual nationality in 1989, soon after taking office in the 1987 elections. In the present legislature, Government went further by affecting changes through which children born to Maltese women married to foreigners can also acquire dual citizenship.

Dr Eddie Fenech Adami feels close to the Maltese community in Australia. After being elected party leader in 1977, he immediately visited our brethren in Australia as a matter of top priority. That year he had spent a good part of September visiting the Maltese community in Australia, and celebrated our Independence Day anniversary with them.

He was back among them in 1992 and 1995, always feeling at one with our brethren living abroad.

When in 1989 we decided to introduce dual nationality, we knew that, in many instances, Maltese persons who had taken up residence abroad had no choice but to opt for the citizenship of the country that welcomed them. That was their passport to employment, housing, social benefits and other community schemes that were crucial to them and the families they set up.

It is to their honour that, despite their having to take up the citizenship of another country and in the process lose their own, they remained proud of their own identity, proud to be Maltese.

Particularly in Australia, although the same applies in other areas, the Maltese kept alive their language, religion and community spirit. Only recently a publication that analyses the 'Maltese-Australian' language that has kept in use a number of phrases that have been lost here has seen the light of day and provides for interesting reading.

A number of festas are organised and replica statues of the ones carried in Malta are carried there. The Maltese community has its own parishes and churches. Band clubs, community associations, football and other clubs were set up in areas where the Maltese made their presence felt.

They distinguish themselves by their dedication, hard work, family ties and overall life ethic.

They publish their own newspapers in Maltese, set up radio programmes and transmissions, and kept a vibrant link and sense of belonging with their country of origin, even as the Maltese community was enriched with its second and third generation members, who were born and bred in countries like Australia.

A number of them have excelled in fields ranging from business to scientific innovation, from politics to top management posts. They were and are proud to be Maltese and we have every reason to be proud of our brethren living abroad.

Dual nationality meant that thousands of Maltese persons won back their Maltese passport. They would no longer be treated as foreigners in their own homeland. Since then certain expressions including "Greater Malta" have been coined to demonstrate the political and legal linkage that has been re-established.

Interestingly, on April 4 this year, the Governor General of Australia signed the Citizenship Legislation Amendment Act 2002 that has only recently gone through the Australian Federal Parliament.

The amendments have come into effect in a two-step process, some amendments coming into force on April 4 and others on July 1. As a result of these amendments, persons who on April 4, 2002, or thereafter, acquire the citizenship of another country, even if they now do so deliberately (and not through an "automatic" process as thoughtfully provided in Malta's 1989 law) they will no longer lose their Australian citizenship.

The new amendments also allow young former Australian citizens up to the age of 25 years to resume their Australian citizenship when it was formerly renounced to retain the nationality or citizenship of another country.

As Malta prepares to join the European Union, every Maltese-Australian citizen knows that he will have an automatic right of entry into all the member states of that Union. That is not merely the territory of the present 15 member states, but it may well be the territory of as many as 25 countries that together form the European family that is emerging.

This means that all Maltese persons, whether living in Malta or abroad, will also become Europeans and enjoy the same rights as any other European person within the EU.

As the president of the Maltese-Australia Businessmen and Professionals Association, Antoine Said Pullicino, had occasion to tell our Prime Minister in Sydney: "Maltese living abroad were grateful as it was Dr Fenech Adami's government that had shown very keen interest in Maltese migrants and, before that, migrants were practically ignored.

"We know that everyone is capable of saying thank you and that there are others who are keen to only look for the needle in the haystack, but the majority of the Maltese community are grateful to your government which passed a law to enable us to hold a Maltese passport once again."

Mr Said Pullicino added that many second generation Maltese could benefit from Malta becoming an EU member as they could become Europeans and benefit from the enormous benefits European citizens had in Europe.

The same principle applies to other Maltese persons living abroad, be it in New Zealand or in the United States of America.

As the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, told Dr Fenech Adami during his official visit there: "Europe is a high value market for New Zealand. We will be looking to step up our dialogue with Malta when it joins the EU. It is a modern face of a very old and strong relationship."

Similarly, New Zealand Opposition Leader, Bill English, told our Prime Minister: "It is clear that a small country can benefit by joining the EU."

The present Government in treating Maltese persons living abroad on an equal footing with those living here had, apart from providing for and further strengthening dual nationality, entered into reciprocal social security and health agreements with countries like Australia and Canada.

That is apart from removing discriminatory treatment against the foreign spouses of Maltese persons, and taking all such other measures to ensure that Maltese persons living in Malta and abroad are treated equally.

The opportunities for all the citizens of Malta when Malta joins the EU will equally make no distinction between those living in Malta and those living abroad.

We have come a long way since the time when a former Labour Government not only failed to grant any form of dual nationality but had also prohibited returning migrants from registering for work!

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