Opposition Leader says Gibraltar needs change or 'the price will be paid' by citizens

The Leader of the Opposition told Parliament Gibraltar needed change or the price will be paid by its citizens.  

“We are at a democratic crossroads” Keith Azopardi said, claiming his party would offer a more transparent, serious and respectful approach.  He added Fabian Picardo has increasingly exhausted public trust.

Mr Azopardi warned that despite the Chief Minister stepping down as party leader – it would not mean the end of an era in which public finances have become more opaque and where there has been a ‘dangerous’ blurring of distinctions between party, Government and the state. 

The GSD Leader said this way of doing things was now ‘endemic’ in the GSLP Government and the  Chief Minister’s  ‘hand picked successor’ Gemma Arias Vasquez would simply mean a continuity of  a culture of fear where independent scrutiny is weakened through political pressure. He said there is a deep malaise in the party with recent scandals tainting the entire administration.

All ministers endorse each others actions, he said, and these behaviours belong to all of them.

The Speaker intervened when the Opposition Leader was talking of the Government's reaction to the Openshaw Report saying accusations in the report are currently before the courts.

Mr Azopardi spent a significant portion of his almost two-hour address on the Principal Auditor’s report and Sir Peter Openshaw’s report on the McGrail Inquiry.

The Leader of the Opposition said the reaction to both showed a ‘terrible intolerance to criticism’ with a parliamentary motion rejecting the report backed by each Government minister.

A report Mr Azopardi said was deeply critical of the Chief Minister and that ministers in the UK would have been compelled to resign.

Sir Peter Openshaw recommended legislation on Conflicts of Interest said the GSD Leader, but lessons have not been learnt by this Government.

What are we saying to young people about standards of who occupies public office, he asked?  

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In his assessment of the state of the nation, the Leader of the Opposition pointed out personal tax cuts had never materialised and manifesto promises had not been completed. Victoria Keys is still a pile of rubble, he said, as well as highlighting plans for the Rooke, police station, fire service and cruise terminal.

A full decade after they were first promised he said families are still waiting for their homes in Sir Bob Peliza Mews and Chatham Views.

Instead he said  “the web of companies has become a jungle” and gross debt has more than quintupled.

He said when we do not have accountability, or even explanations of the use of hundred of millions of pounds, "this is a problem".

Keith Azopardi pointed to a company – the Community Credit Union Cooperative Ltd – he said has dished out loans to companies or individuals to the value of £114 million – but he said that despite repeated questions, no information has been provided as to who the loan recipients are.

Keith Azopardi also highlighted departmental overspend in the region of £79 million. Only six departments kept to their budget, he said.

Refuse collection overspent by £5 million, the GHA by £32million. A million pounds in ex-gratia payments made by the Chief Minister’s office.

The total overspend is £187 million pounds he told Parliament.

If Gibraltar had kept to its budget- imagine how much better off we’d be, he wondered.

While Mr Azopardi agreed with equalising pensions, the increase to the disability benefit and the public sector pay increase, he asked “what about private sector workers?"

People should keep as much of their hard-earned cash as possible, he said, and are not there to bail out the Government from waste or abuse.

The Leader of the Opposition said his party would be voting against the appropriation bill.

He warned people not to be taken in by what he described as attempts at electioneering.

Let the election come as soon as possible, he said. “We are ready.”