I stand for open-mindedness and am against fanaticism. I believe in a hands-on approach to problem solving and follow evidence-based decision making.
I am open to persuasion and consider diversity and contrasting opinions as very useful and dynamic forces in a competitive democratic system; yet at the same time I believe that whenever possible decisions should be reached by consensus and active participation of all those involved. I believe in fairness and am against every sort of discrimination.
I believe it is time for change in this country. We can create more wealth to help families and pensioners improve their lives, have public services in welfare, education and health that give a better quality service to all those who need them and ensure that our taxes are used to improve our life and not for corruption.
I am working to help elect a new Labour government because I believe that it has a set of policies inspired by social justice, democracy and the celebration of diversity that will give our families and pensioners a new beginning. The Labour Party has designed a range of measures and initiatives that will improve the quality of life in Malta and Gozo.
We will be tackling inflation on two fronts: putting more money into people’s pockets and monitoring prices within the framework of an open free market while taking steps against unjustified price increases. The income of families and pensioners will improve by slashing the water and electricity surcharge by half, year after year. We will remove income tax on overtime so that employees and their families will be better off.
We will streamline cumbersome and expensive regulations and cut red tape to enable businesses to operate more efficiently and ease the burden of taxation on them so that they will invest more and create more growth and jobs. We will strive to have real economic growth reach 4 to 6% annually by creating a better climate for investment and more business friendly environment in tourism, manufacturing and new economic activities ranging from maritime services to IT projects.
Our country’s future can only be based on a high cost and high skilled workforce that must have top quality education and training to be able to operate successfully in the knowledge-based economy of the globalised world of the 21st century. We need to improve our education system, as more than 40% of our teenagers are leaving secondary education without the necessary skills and competencies to survive and thrive in today’s and tomorrow’s fast changing world. Education at every level, from kindergarten to university, must be improved to enable us to compete successfully with the rest of the world. We must modernise our education at every level and ensure that our young people acquire adequate literacy, scientific and technological skills and knowledge so as not to fall behind and be condemned to failure and social exclusion.
The new Labour government will ensure that as many people will enjoy a better quality of life, in which public services of education, health and welfare deliver what taxpayers expect of them. Childcare facilities will be opened. First-time home buyers will be given a 10% subsidy on properties worth up to 117,000 euro. The 80% of the elderly currently paying out of their pension to stay in government homes will be brought down to 65%. Public holidays falling on weekends will be given back to workers and employees. Waiting lists for operations in public hospitals will be cut down by 15% every year; health centres around the country will be reopened and their services improved; and government will launch a nationwide breast screening programme.
The next Labour government will also take steps to introduce new, clean energy in our country. We have wasted millions of liri, polluting our country and damaging our health, by not changing our traditional energy sources when other countries in the Mediterranean have been using solar and wind energy for years. We will also take measures to protect animals in our country and provide the necessary facilities for animal care.
I think we can create a better Malta and Gozo by rewarding hard work, merit and honesty.