The Deputy Prime Minister of Malta and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Tonio Borg, will be visiting Sydney and Melbourne in the early part of the last week of October before flying to Perth, Western Australia, to take part in the Commonwealth Foreign Ministers’ Meeting later that week.
The Maltese Community Council of Victoria will be hosting a welcome reception in his honour on Tuesday 25 October at the Maltese Centre in Parkville, an inner Melburne suburb.
Last Wednesday, the Malta High Commission in Australia issued a media release “to inform the general public and, in particular, the Maltese community that the planned visit by Prime Minister Dr Lawrence Gonzi and Mrs Gonzi to Brisbane, Mackay, Sydney and Melbourne later this month has been cancelled.” The visit had to be cancelled due to the postponement of the EU Council meeting which was rescheduled from the 16-17 October to 23 October.
However, it was confirmed that the Prime Minister and Mrs Gonzi will be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth from 28 to 30 October, as scheduled.
In the media release, the High Commission stated that it “shares in the disappointment of the community at this change of plan. The Office of the Prime Minister has acknowledged the efforts made by the Maltese communities that were being visited. Preparations for the visit were at an advanced stage and it thanks each and every association involved in the organization of the visit.”
