Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1547077
10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 11 OCTOBER 2026 OPINION Annabelle PN MP and spokesperson for employment FOR years, Malta has celebrated every new job as another eco- nomic success story. But there is a question we have been avoid- ing: What kind of jobs are we actually creating? I believe the answer starts with a simple principle. We should build an economy that creates value through people, not simply an economy that creates jobs for people. That means we need to have a more serious conversation about productivity. We have an economy that depends heavily on workers from abroad. We have employ- ers facing shortages of people with particular skills. We have young people making choices about whether to build their future here or elsewhere. We have an ageing population and a low birth rate. And we are entering a period in which ar- tificial intelligence, automa- tion and new technologies will change many of the jobs that exist today. For too long, when business- es faced labour shortages, the easiest answer has often been to find more workers. For- eign workers have made an enormous contribution to our economy and to many of our essential sectors, and they de- serve to be treated fairly and with dignity. However, Malta cannot in- definitely rely on increasing the number of people working to sustain economic growth. We need to invest more in technology, innovation, man- agement, training and skills. We need businesses to become more productive rather than simply becoming larger. When productivity improves, it cre- ates greater scope for workers to benefit through better wag- es, conditions and career pro- gression. Cheap labour can make an economy bigger. The numbers will look good but they do not necessarily mean the economy is better. Our competitiveness should not depend on this. Malta needs foreign workers in many sectors but we should be asking ourselves what kind of labour market we are building around them. If we need people with par- ticular skills, we should be at- tracting those skills. If employ- ers invest in people and retrain Marthese Mugliette Beyond the word 'inclusion': Is Malta really living It? President Malta Federation of Organisations Persons with Disability (MFOPD) THE word inclusion has be- come increasingly common in Malta's public discourse. It fea- tures in discussions about edu- cation, employment, disability, equality, culture and communi- ty life. MFOPD welcomes this. But we believe it is time to ask a more important question: Are we simply using the word 'in- clusion', or are we making it a reality? A review of media reporting over the past two months pre- sents a mixed picture. In education, inclusion has been placed at the centre of ef- forts to ensure that every learn- er matters. Yet families con- tinue to face uncertainty over learning support educators and the support available to chil- dren with disabilities. In employment, recent re- porting on diversity and inclu- sion practices found that most of the organisations examined did not meet the legal employ- ment quota for persons with disabilities. At the same time, there are encouraging examples of in- clusive initiatives in education, culture, science and communi- ty life. These demonstrate that progress is possible and that many organisations are genu- inely committed to making in- clusion work. However, inclusion cannot be measured simply by policies, strategies, projects or the re- peated use of the word itself. A child being physically pres- ent in a classroom is not neces- sarily inclusion if the support needed to participate is missing or not adequate. A person with a disability having access to a workplace is not necessarily inclusion if barriers to employ- ment, progression or reason- able accommodation remain. And consulting people with disabilities only after decisions have been made is not mean- ingful participation. Presence is not the same as participation. Participation is not the same as belonging. MFOPD therefore believes that Malta should move beyond in- clusion as an aspiration and be- gin measuring what it means in people's everyday lives. Whenever a policy or service is described as inclusive, we should be able to ask: Who is included? Who remains ex- cluded? Can people participate on an equal basis? What barri- ers have been removed? And, most importantly, what differ- ence has this made to people's lives? MFOPD welcomes the recent commitments to strengthen consultation and forward plan- ning in relation to inclusive ed- ucation and the development of a new national inclusion strat- egy. But inclusion must also mean involving persons with disabil- ities from the start to identify problems, design solutions, im- plement policies and evaluate their results. Malta has clearly embraced the language of inclusion. But the time has come to make sure that reality matches the word. William Vella The house that could decide Spain's election Lawyer and PN executive member SPAIN is heading towards an- other political showdown, but this time one issue could play an unusually important role in determining the direction of the election—housing. For years, the affordability of housing has increasingly be- come a source of frustration across Spain. Rising proper- ty prices, expensive rents and the difficulty faced by younger generations in becoming home- owners have transformed what was once largely viewed as an economic and social policy challenge into a much more po- litically potent issue. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez appears determined to place housing at the centre of the political conversation. That is significant because housing has a unique ability to connect a number of issues that are nor- mally discussed separately. The price of a home is not simply about the property mar- ket. It is linked to wages, the availability of land, planning decisions, construction costs, taxation, population growth and migration. In tourist des- tinations and major cities, it is also increasingly connected to tourism and the growth of short-term rentals. For younger people in particu- lar, the question is becoming increasingly straightforward: If you have a job and earn a rea- sonable salary, can you actually afford to establish yourself and buy a home? That question can become politically much more powerful than a debate about individual housing policies. It is also why the Spanish elec- tion could provide an impor- tant lesson for other European countries facing similar pres- sures. Sánchez has an opportunity to frame the election around the government's response to a problem that voters experience directly in their everyday lives. Housing is tangible. People see the price of apartments, receive rental demands every month and know what they can or can- not afford. The Opposition, however, will have a different objective. Rather than allowing the campaign to become solely a referendum on housing, the People's Party and Vox have every incentive to broaden the debate towards Sánchez's over- all record in government. After years in office, they can argue that voters should judge the government on the totality of its policies rather than on one particular issue. That creates an interesting political battle. Will Sánchez succeed in mak- ing housing the defining issue of the election, or will the elec- tion ultimately become anoth- er broader contest between Sánchez, the People's Party and Vox? The answer could have impor- tant implications beyond Spain. Why Malta should be watch- ing Malta should pay particularly close attention to what happens next. Our housing market is very different from Spain's in terms of scale and structure, but the political question is increasing- ly familiar: How easy is it for an ordinary person earning an or- dinary salary to build a normal life? Housing affordability cannot be considered in isolation. It in- tersects with wages, population growth, foreign workers, tour- ism, short-term rentals, con- struction, planning, taxation and the availability of land. It also raises a generational ques- tion, particularly for young peo- ple who may find themselves financially independent but still unable to take the traditional step of purchasing their own home. That is where housing be- comes politically dangerous for governments. People may tolerate difficult economic statistics. They are less likely to ignore the reality of being unable to afford the home they want to live in. Spain is therefore worth watching not simply because of its election, but because it pro- vides a case study of what hap- pens when housing moves from being one policy area among many to becoming a defining question about people's eco- nomic future. The Spanish experience is therefore worth watching very closely from Malta's perspec- tive.