P. M. No. 121/ 1966
The Hon. Hubert Opperman, OBE., MP., will be Australia's First High Commissioner to Malta. The formal agreement of the Government of Malta to his appointment has now been received. Malta
is an independent country and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The decision of the Commonwealth Government to establish a High Commission in Valetta was announced by me at the time of the recent visit to this country of the Prime Minister of Malta, the Hon. Dr. Gorgio
Borg Olivier. Australia and Malta have close links from their Commonwealth membership and the steady flow of migrants from Malta to this country.
There is in Australia at this time the largest number of persons of Maltese descent outside Malta itself.
I am sure Mr. Opperman will give the same able and devoted public service to Australia in this important new sphere as he has always revealed in his Parliamentary and Ministerial capacities.
CANBERRA,
15 December, 1966 I