PN says Culture Minister can take political responsibility without resigning

Culture Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea can take political responsibility without resigning, the Nationalist Party has said. 

“The real traumatic experience is having the artists the minister himself represents calling for his resignation because they feel insulted by his words,” PN Spokesperson Justin Schembri said during a press conference on Wednesday. Also at the conference were PN spokesperson Marilena Gauci and Beppe Galea.

He was poking fun at Culture Minister Malcolm Paul Agius Galea's remarks on the sector being a 'traumatic experience' for him.

Schembri urged Agius Galea to explain what he meant and repair his relationship with artists, saying he could take responsibility without resigning.

Agius Galea had described his first months as minister as traumatic and referred to artists as “God’s gift to the world” while discussing funding, Schembri said. The prime minister described the remarks as insensitive when speaking to MaltaToday.

Schembri said the value of artistic work could not be measured by commercial returns alone. PN spokesperson Marilena Gauci said artists she had spoken to felt betrayed by the remarks. She asked whether the prime minister was satisfied with his culture minister.

Schembri said Budget 2027 increased funding for Arts Council Malta but gave little detail on how the government would deliver the council’s 2030 strategy. He said it had also overlooked proposals from the Malta Entertainment Industry and Arts Association.

He pointed to the PN’s proposals for professional status for artists, a fund for first productions and more paid apprenticeships. On cultural heritage, he said recurrent funding appeared to have increased but questioned how it would be allocated and how the spending fit into the government’s Vision 2050.

Gauci said the budget speech made no mention of film and gave producers no indication of how much the government would allocate to the local film support scheme in 2027.

She said Labour had pledged to raise the film rebate to 45%, with a rate of 50% for productions that carry out most of their work on Malta’s sister island.

Gauci said the budget annexes cited a contribution to the Malta Film Commission as one reason for a €15.25 million increase in the culture ministry’s revised estimate. The annexes gave no figure for the commission’s share, she said.

She also asked how much interest there had been in the open call to develop a sound stage at Malta Film Studios. She said six years had passed since the project was announced and that producers needed firm funding figures because films take years to develop and finance.

PN shadow minister Beppe Galea welcomed increases in funding for voluntary organisations but asked whether they would cut processing times and reduce paperwork.

He said the youth volunteering scheme had exhausted its 2026 funds and that the budget kept its 2027 allocation at €200,000. He asked how many young people the scheme could support and whether any applications had gone unfunded.

Galea also asked when the government would publish details of its planned reform of volunteering law and whether higher work permit fees for workers from outside the EU would raise costs for voluntary organisations providing social and care services.