New personnel at Malta mission in Australia

The Malta High Commission has made a number of new appointments at the three offices in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney aimed at strengthening its work processes.

The hope is that the services given to the Maltese community in Australia and New Zealand will improve.

Charles Sultana is the new Deputy High Commissioner in Canberra. He is a graduate of international relations from the University of Malta and the University of London. Mr Sultana has served both at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta and at Malta's Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels. He is married to Kirsten Edwards.

Angele Azzopardi, who for the last four-and-a-half years served as the Deputy High Commissioner in Canberra, has been appointed Consul-General in Melbourne. Mrs Azzopardi has also worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Malta and the Maltese Embassy in Bonn. She graduated in business management from the University of Malta and followed a course at the Institute of Public Administration in Paris. She is married to Tony Azzopardi and they have two children.

Gioconda Schembri, a law graduate from the University of Malta, has been appointed executive officer (commercial/cultural) at the Consulate-General in Melbourne. Her face is also not new to the Maltese community as she served as the Deputy High Commissioner in Canberra for some years prior to marrying Darren Schembri. She was then known by her maiden surname (Mifsud). Dr Schembri worked at the Maltese Community Council of Victoria and at Centrelink.

Joanna De Carlo has been appointed executive officer (commercial) at the Consulate-General in Sydney. A graduate of business marketing from the University of Western Sydney, Ms De Carlo has worked as a marketing coordinator with a marketing company in Sydney. She also worked at the business development department of Malta Enterprise after she had been granted a business/professional traineeship/scholarship by the High Commission in Canberra.

Wallace (Wally) Caruana was appointed cultural adviser at the Malta High Commission in Canberra. A graduate from the School of Art in Canberra, Mr Caruana has vast experience in the world of art and has also been the senior curator of aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art at the National Gallery of Australia. He wrote various books and articles on art and is married to Catherine Russell.

Pauline Adams was appointed director of the Maltese Language School in Canberra, a pilot project on the teaching of Maltese in cities with smaller Maltese communities. Mrs Adams, a graduate of the Malta Training College, the University of Hull and the Australian National University, has vast experience as a teacher of the Maltese language both in Malta and Australia. She is married to Michael Adams and they have a son.

The Malta High Commission thanked Clemente Zammit who has just retired as Consul-General in Melbourne after 17 years of working continuously for the benefit of the Maltese both in Malta and in Victoria. Good wishes for the future were also expressed by the High Commission to Mr Zammit, his wife Mary and their family in Australia.