Austin Gatt - divorce 'not a civil right’

Describing himself as a “fervent Catholic inspired by the teachings of Church”, transport and infrastructure minister Gatt claimed his position on divorce was not based on his religious beliefs but on his role as an MP.

Speaking on Radju Malta’s Ghandi X’Nghid today, Gatt claimed divorce is not a civil right "until the state recognises it as such."

Quoting the 2005 national census, Gatt said 61% of the Maltese lived in marriage whilst only 2% were separated or had their marriages annulled. “Even if this percentage would have doubled these past six years, the gap is still too high for Maltese society to justify the introduction of divorce,” he said.

Gatt added that marriage breakdown is not at such a high level as to justify the introduction of divorce. “Fundamentally, Maltese society right now doesn’t need divorce,” he said, but admitted separation rates were on the increase.

Asked by presenter Andrew Azzopardi whether divorce is a civil right or not, Gatt adamantly said it is not a civil right. “Divorce only becomes a civil right once Parliament recognises it as such,” Gatt said. He gave examples substantiating his arguments by referring to euthanasia and abortion. “Holland recognises euthanasia as a civil right, whilst Italy recognises abortion as a civil right because their own parliaments recognise them as such,” he said.

Gatt said divorce had two major faults: “It is extremely rare for someone who is not well-off to afford obtaining a divorce. Imagine someone who earns €1,000 monthly having half of his pay going to his former wife, whilst with the rest of his pay he needs to sustain his new family. How will he manage?” Gatt asked. “I say divorce only favours those who can afford it.”

Asked by Azzopardi whether the state would eventually subsidise those who remarry, Gatt scoffed at the idea. “You can’t have the cake and eat it,” he said, adding this is a consequence which people are not aware of. “One cannot call on government to have it subsidise those who want a second or third family.”

Gatt also said divorce will bring with it a 'divorce mentality': “The concept of marriage unity as we know it will be destroyed and divorce and separation rates will increase drastically.” Gatt explained the rates will still go up also after those who are currently separated obtain their divorce.

On the referendum question, Gatt claimed the question as proposed by the Labour Party was a bogus one. “It gives the false impression there is a guarantee divorce in Malta will not change as from the legislation proposed,” he said, adding in reality legislation does change.

“The EU referendum question was a simple one – a yes or no. The electorate should vote for the concept and leave it up to the parliamentarians to their job,” he said.

Moving on to his decision not to recontest the next general elections, Gatt said that he contested his first election in 1976. "In two years' time I would have been 15 years as a Minister. I've been there, done that," Gatt told Azzopardi.

He admitted of not agreeing with the "methodology" of how certain persons see the PN as secondary to everything else. "I stand behind Lawrence Gonzi. By winning the elections two years ago he did a political miracle. I will always be loyal to my party."

Gatt concluded by stating he saw no loyalty by those who leaked information from meetings such as that of the Executive: "Is there any value in leaking information just to be loved by the media? Where is loyalty in all this?"