Beppe Fenech Adami has welcomed the draft law on political party financing but lamented the Labour Party’s advantage gained by what he described as the usurpation of public land.

The Nationalist Party deputy leader for party affairs yesterday highlighted the case of Australia Hall in Pembroke, which he said was given back to the Labour Party by the government.

The reference was to last year’s court settlement by which the government withdrew legal action instituted by the previous administration to claim back the historic building from the Labour Party.

“While the law seeks to regulate donations to political parties it comes at a time when there is no level playing field because Australia Hall and the surrounding land are worth millions,” Dr Fenech Adami said, adding this made Labour less dependent on donations for its survival.

Australia Hall was ceded to the Labour Party in the 1970s in exchange for the Freedom Press building in Marsa that had to make way for the shipbuilding site.

The exchange came with the condition that the building had to be maintained. After Australia Hall fell to ruins, the government had started legal proceedings to reclaim it back but the party had countered with its own legal challenge to retake the Freedom Press site.

The court cases were settled last year when the Labour government gave up the challenge and the party did likewise.

Dr Fenech Adami also accused the PL of having usurped public and private property in the past implying that this gave it a sound financial footing. But he welcomed the draft law, saying that the government had taken on board a number of suggestions made by the PN such as lower thresholds for mandatory donation reporting and illegal donations. He did not exclude that at committee stage the PN would propose other changes to the law.

The government plan regulates the formation of political parties, their financing and how much candidates can spend during electoral campaigns. It makes no mention of State funding for political parties, a system in use in some European countries.

Asked whether the PN agreed with State financing, Dr Fenech Adami said the time had come for a discussion on the matter. “Political parties are an important cog in the democratic system and the PN would be ready to explore different models of how they can benefit from State financing,” he said.