When I set my eyes on the job advertisement that appeared in the September 7 edition of The Maltese Herald, published weekly in Australia, through which the Australian government sought to fill the position of office manager at the Australian High Commission in Ta' Xbiex, I was at once dumfounded. More than this, I was extremely hurt.
The advertisement said that the applicants need to be Australian citizens (not dual/Australian-Maltese). I am one of the many Maltese-Australians who have fought extremely long and hard to acquire dual citizenship. It had been a life-long struggle.
Before I put pen to paper on the subject, I contacted Richard Palk, the High Commissioner for Australia in Malta, and on September 10 he explained the situation. As a senior bureaucrat he referred me to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's policy as set out in the security instructions. This policy prohibits citizens (including Australian citizens who are dual nationals) of the host country from working in a security-designated position.
Therefore, it is not my intention to in anyway criticise the High Commissioner. I understand as well that the Australian government has the right to employ whoever it desires within the confines of its embassy (with, no doubt, the proper employment permits issued by the Malta government).
As a Maltese who has lived in Australia for just on 50 years, I find that the policy in question is outdated and fails to recognise the fact that the Australian government has, since July 2002, accepted as well the concept of dual citizenship.
But put this aside for a moment. The rationale that a dual national seeking work in a security-designated position in the host country will not get a security clearance can, to say the least, be challenged. Why would it make you less of a risk if you were an Australian with the right to obtain dual citizenship but have not taken it up as yet? Or when does a certificate of citizenship become a guarantee of morality?
Whatever happened to the hype that Australian-Maltese nationals can now also acquire European citizenship and freely travel across Europe? Shall we tell our children to do so but never to apply for the well paid jobs at the Australian High Commission in Ta' Xbiex as the Australian federal government will only consider you as a clerk, a cook, a cleaner or a driver? Shades of a colonial era? Australians with Maltese dual citizenship hold important and indeed very high security risk positions in government departments, businesses, banking and commerce in Australia. I have no doubt that some of these positions are more of a security risk than the position of Office Manager at Ta' Xbiex, paid to a salary scale of middle-management.
Australians with dual Maltese nationality have fought with distinction in East Timor; they have fought in Afghanistan and are fighting in Iraq. They are members of the Australian National Armed Forces. When conscription came in force you only had to be a permanent resident to be sent to the front line.
Australians can do as they please but in our country, Malta, they should be more prudent and show more respect to the concept of dual citizenship, a cornerstone in the history of our seafaring people. A concept now embraced by the Australian government as well.
Mr Dimech, a member of the Order of Australia and a former editor of the Maltese Herald, served for more than 11 years as consul and consul general for Malta in the state of NSW.