In January, Consul General Victor Grech introduced the Consul-on-the-Move (COTM), which was launched in July 2016, in a bid to reach out to Maltese citizens living outside of Victoria, NSW and Canberra.
COTM is an initiative formed by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Malta, the Malta High Commission in Canberra and the consul generals in Sydney and Melbourne.
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Malta Honorary Consul WA Paul Calleja said many people sought consular services for new and renewing passports.
“The Consul General was giving me an indication of how his visits went in Cairns, Mackay, Hobart, Wellington, Auckland, Adelaide,” he said,
“Perth had probably if not the second or the biggest uptake of this service. Adelaide has a bigger Maltese community than Perth yet the demand for passport services is greater in Perth.”
Mr Calleja said he expected about 40 appointments across two-and-a-half days during the Consul General’s second visit.
“There were some loose ends from the previous visit and there was an increase in demand to satisfy the unsatisfied section of the community,” he said.
“The plan was to come once to WA in January but I spoke to the Consul General and pointed out that is not going to be adequate.”