The government decided to drop a Land Department case against the Labour Party to take back the Australia Hall property in Pembroke on the Attorney General’s advice, according to Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia.

The historic hall and adjacent property in Pembroke had been granted to the Labour Party in the 1970s by the Mintoff administration as compensation for the party-owned Freedom Press property in Marsa which was requisitioned at the time and eventually used for the development of Malta Shipbuilding – which was privatised in 2009.

However, in 2010 the Land Department took the PL to court in a bid to take the property back after the party failed to keep the hall and former Raffles Disco in good condition, as stipulated by a 1979 contract, despite several warnings.

The move has been described by the Opposition as an abuse of power, and a way for the government to hand a gift to itself now that it is in power.

Read the full story in The Sunday Times of Malta, the e-paper, or timesofmalta.com premium here.

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