The Voic(edr iivoenf b yt thhe evo iicMe of aiitsl retaedesrse ) Issue Fortnightly magazine for the Diaspora June 18, 2019 206 Fortnightly magazine for the Diaspora Malta hosts 6th EUMed7 Summit Photos courtesy of DOI - Jason Borg/Jeremy Wonnacott/ Omar Camilleri /Clinton Fenech French President Emmanuel Macron admiring the view of the Grand Harbour from the Upper Barracca with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat indicating the strategic points to his guest ahead of the sixth edition of the EUMed7 Summit on Friday. Malta also hosted five other leaders (below). At the end of the Summit the leaders from the Southern EU member states signed the Valletta Declaration (report on Page 12) Alexis Tsipras Nicos Anastasiades Pedro Sanchez (Antonio Costa (Cyprus) Giuseppe Conte (Portugal) (Greece) (Spain) (Italy) 2 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday June 18, 2019 Mark Buttigieg MLC shares his Maltese roots in inaugural speech ewly elected MLC in politics. He was a blacksmith Mark Buttigieg and secretary of the labour club used his inaugural in his village of Naxxar in address at NSW Parlia - Malta. Today I am wearing his Nment’s Upper House to af - original Malta Labour Party firm the positive role of badge. Maltese migrants to Aus - In 1978, at age 12, I was sitting tralia, reflecting on his own with him at the dining table of journey from immigrant my grandparents' place at 349 roots to his election to the Bunnerong Road, Maroubra. NSW Legislative Council. The year before, my dad, Victor In front of a packed born in Hamrun; mum, Car - gallery of supporters, (be- men born in Naxxar; and sister, low) the long-time Suther - Fiona had moved from 14 Keat - land Shire and St George ing Street, Maroubra to Sylva - area resident who was 53 nia Waters on June 11, said, “My jour - Mr Buttigieg MLC spoke of ney to this place started in his experience working as an 1955 with my grandfather electrician and joining the Elec - and grandmother, Gilardu trical Trade Union. and Annunziata Mercieca, “In 1982 at 15 years of age I who stepped off the ocean began an electrical apprentice - liner Surriento just down ship with the then-Sydney the road from here at the County Council; I worked as an Overseas Passenger Termi - electrician with them for 30 nal. years. My first act was to be - My uncle Robert vividly come a member of the Electri - remembers those first cal Trades Union, which I have steps on Australian soil. remained a member of ever Together with his wife and since.” four children – my lovely Mark holds an arts degree in mum Carmen, my uncles political science and an eco - Robert and Vincent, who nomic degree with first-class are with us today, and my Aunty my grandfather shouldered a mas - honours. Josephine, who is no longer with us – sive wooden box that contained He acknowledged Labor’s recent everything the fam - election defeats and remained opti - ily had brought mistic about the party’s future. from Malta. “Losing elections by being honest The sharp edges of does not imply the policies are the box cut into his wrong. Progress is always more diffi - shoulder as they cult to explain than the status quo but walked up from this is no reason to abandon Circular Quay, past progress.” this very Parlia - Mr Buttigieg MLC charted a path ment, on their way forward for Labor and Unions in - to rental accommo - cluding reaching out to a broader dation in South constituency such as small business. Dowling Street, “The ALP can and should represent Darlinghurst. the interests of both working people They would not and small business people because have even known they are increasingly becoming one what this building and the same constituency.” was, let alone imag - He expressed his gratitude for his ined that their first election to the NSW Upper House. “I grandchild would will be standing up for the rights for be giving his inau - working people and sticking to our gural speech to the principles of social justice and equal - New South Wales ity of opportunity. Parliament in that I want to specifically thank the peo - same building some ple of NSW and all those people who 65 years later. voted for me because they have faith It was my Nannu that I will stay true to those Labor Gilardu who first Party principles. I intend to live up to sparked my interest that faith." Tuesday June 18, 2019 he Voice of the Maltese 3 Q. I am 63 years of age and retired. I have an account- his is a monthly service offered by The Voice of the Maltese based pension that I opened in July 2014. I have just re - in which Marie Louise Muscat from the Fiducian Finan - cently found a part-time job of 3 days a week and do not cTial Services helps our readers understand the complexities as - need the income from the account-based pension. Am I allowed to stop the income or do I still need to take it sociated with financial planning. If you need more advice send monthly? an email to Marie Louise via: [email protected]. A. As you no longer need the income same way they would from your account-based pension you deem income on could decide to roll the funds back into su - money in the bank or perannuation and leave them in accumu - a term deposit. lation. You can then ask your employer to I would therefore pay the employer superannuation contri - recommend that you butions into this fund to continue to see it leave them as two grow. separate account If you left the investment as an account based pensions to en - based pension then you will need to take sure your age pension an income from it and at your age the min - is not affected. imum amount of pension that you will need Q. I am 50 years of to take is 4%. age and have three Q. I am a pensioner and have two ac - superannuation count-based pensions. One of these pen - funds. I was think - ing of merging the Q&A sions belonged to my late husband who Q&A passed away in February 2018. I was three superannuations into one in funds. You should then be able to make an thinking of merging the two account- order to simplify things. Do you think informed decision before making the based pensions together. Can I do this this is advisable and what should I look move. or will it affect my age pension? for prior to making this move? I would recommend that you see a finan - A. I think merging the three superannu - cial planner who would look into these de - A. If you started your account-based pen - tails for you and be able to help you decide sion before 1 January 2015 then you have ation funds into one would definitely sim - plify things and could also reduce your on which superannuation fund is best to what we know as a deductible amount. maintain. This means that the money that you are ongoing fees. However, you need to make currently receiving from this income sure that you preserve your insurance if Q. We have a home on half an acre that stream is not being treated as income for you have insurance in them. we purchased in 1982. I have just been the Centrelink Income test. You need to check which of the three has given approval from council to sub-di - The second account-based pension came performed the best over the years, what vide. I plan to sell the land for $450,000. in your name in Feb 2018 and therefore are the ongoing costs for each superannu - Will I have to pay capital gains tax on has no deductible amount and therefore ation fund, and what insurance cover if the land when I sell it? We only pur - Centrelink are deeming the income the any do you have within each of these chased the land and house for $80,000 in 1982. A. As you purchased the house in 1982 this is pre capital gains tax. You will therefore not have to pay tax on the pro - ceeds from this land. Had you purchased it after 20 September 1985 when capital gains tax was introduced, you would have had to pay tax on the portion of land that you would be selling, as you will be changing the title on this land. Q. I am 76 years of age, a widower and in the process of selling my home to move into a retirement village. I should have a surplus of about $400,000 and I was told that I could invest some of this money into superannuation. How much of these surplus funds can I invest in su - perannuation? A. You are able to use the downsizing strat - egy. Anyone who downsizes his home and is over the age of 65, and has been living in the house for at least 10 years can con - tribute up to $300,000 into superannua - tion. This contribution needs to be made within 90 days of receiving the proceeds from settlement. This document contains factual information only and is not intended to provide any recommenda - tion or opinion in relation to the topic/s discussed. Fiducian recommends that you seek advice from a professional to address any issues that may be raised by this article. Fiducian accepts no liability for any loss suffered by anyone who has acted on any information in this document 4 The Voice of the Maltese Tuesday June 18, 2019 Something magical happens each time you enter these city walls.