MESSAGE FROM THE PRIME MINISTER OF MALTA THE HON DR LAWRENCE GONZI

Ladies and Gentlemen
pmOn behalf of the people of Malta I wish to extend a heartfelt welcome to all of you present here today. We very much appreciate your work among Maltese Australians and on behalf of the Maltese language. For my government, your work is important not only for social and cultural reasons, but also for a much wider vision that we have for Malta's future.
Providentially located at the strategic centre of the Mediterranean Sea, for thousands of years Malta has served as a regional node of networks of intercontinental trade and communication. The historic record of connectivity and cross-cultural communication is written in the vet`- DNA and language of the Maltese people. We are a nation of multiethnic background, European in culture but with a language that belongs to the same family as Arabic. A small island-state, Malta nonetheless embraces in its history, the major currents of European and Mediterranean civilisation. In the religious creed of the overwhelming majority of our people associates us with western Latin Christianity, our legal system has roots in Roman Law and in the Napoleonic Code, and our system of Government is largely based on the British model. The Maltese language is the only European language that belongs to the Semitic family; it is also the only Semitic language to be written in the Latin script.
The result of this creative fusion is a unique cultural identity - at once millennial and future-oriented. Its character is well captured by the Maltese language today. Now an official language of the European Union, it symbolises that cultural borderland that Europe shares with the civilisation of the Arabs and Islam. It represents, also, the promise of a Mediterranean area that is prosperous and peaceful, globalised world.
Of course, the people of a small island-state, with no resources to speak of but themselves, who have always thrived when connected up to the rest of the world can readily appreciate the promise held up by a properly networked world. This is why my government is determined to make more of the opportunities that globalisation brings by using our dual membership of the Commonwealth and of the ELI to explore different avenues of European and international partnership. The initiatives we are taking are already establishing Malta as an important stepping-stone for European businesses looking at the southern Mediterranean for investment opportunities, as well as stepping-stone for companies from outside the EU from North Africa, the Middle East and the Far East - looking for a springboard into the European market.
Our strategy is guided by a vision for Malta: to establish Malta as a centre of excellence by six specific areas by 2015. These are six areas where we already bare a solid foundation of excellence to build on educational services, tourism, Information and Communications Technology, financial services, manufacturing and health services In each of these areas, by 2015, my government would like Malta to he Euro-Mediterranean centre of excellence, attracting people from around the region to take up the services it offers and the quality of life that goes with it.
Our strategy is based on out confidence in our people, in their cultural resources and their capacity for work and recreation. By 'our people' we include all Maltese, wherever they may be. The recent reform of our citizenship law, which opens up the possibility of acquiring citizenship for several categories of people who were previously excluded, is a mark of our sense of exclusivity.
During my recent visit to Australia, I underlined how Malta looks at Maltese migrants around the world as its ambassadors, as well as a source of renewal of our great traditions and culture. I would like to reiterate an undertaking I made to you- my government is presently working on the initiative of setting up, in Malta, a specialised unit of experts of the Maltese language and culture whose main purpose will be to support the promulgation of Maltese in countries like Australia.
We want to give you all the help we can because we recognise its importance for us, as well as for you. Teaching the Maltese language and administering Maltese schools is a calling of the highest responsibility, since it is concerned not only with the transmission of a language and culture to a new generation, but also with the creative renewal so necessary for us to be Maltese in a globalize world.
We consider your work to be part of our 2015 vision for Malta. What you do will help us engage creatively and confidently with the challenges of globalisation. We thank you and look forward to collaborating with you, to enjoy better not just the heritage we share but also the future we can build together. Grazzi mill-qalb.

  PRESS RELEASE - NATIONAL CONFERENCE - ENGLISH VERSION
The first National Conference on the teaching of Maltese in Australia and New Zealand was held last weekend at the Malta High Commission, O'Malley Canberra, A.C.T.

Mr Frank Scicluna, conference organiser and convenor, said that "with 35 participants from 6 States in Australia and from New Zealand, it was a resounding success".

The conference motto was "Communication, co-ordination and collaboration" and a key message from the conference was the need to harness the energy of the participants in a concerted effort to make the best use of available resources and ensure the survival and continued improvement of the existing initiatives.

The conference was opened by the High Commissioner, Mr Francis Tabone, who also read out a message from the Prime Minister, Dr Lawrence Gonzi. In the message, the Prime Minister reiterated an undertaking made during his recent visit to Australia to "set up a specialized unit of experts of the Maltese language and culture whose main purpose will be to support the promulgation of Maltese in countries like Australia".

The major outcome from the conference was a unanimous resolution to establish a Federation of Maltese Schools in Australia and New Zealand. The conference participants were deemed founding members of the Federation and Mr Frank Scicluna was appointed to draft the Constitution of the Federation.

A Sydney-based scholar of the Maltese language, Mr Roderick Bovington, gave an invited address on the first day of the conference in which he outlined key influences on the contemporary structure of the Maltese language and tied this with major historical developments in Malta.

In the concluding address, Dr Carmen Dalli, associate professor at Victoria University of Wellington and honorary consul for Malta in Wellington, noted that the Prime Minister's message to the conference combined a promise to assist with a discourse of confidence in "our people, wherever they may be".

Dr Dalli said that this discourse of inclusivity signified acceptance by Government of the concept of a Greater Malta: "With this supportive stance from the Malta government and the many strengths of the local Maltese language school sector in Australia, the time is ripe to act collaboratively to move the sector forward".

Mr Scicluna, who is also the honorary consul for South Australia and long time teacher at the Maltese School in Adelaide called the conference "a historic event that will be remembered for the friendliness, active participation and working-together environment of all the participants".
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