The GSD has said that yesterday the Principal Auditor confirmed that the Report for 2018-19 was dated 31 May 2025 and had been delivered to Parliament on 13 June 2025 and that steps "should be taken so it is tabled and published immediately." 

A statement continued: “31 May 2025 was the last day in office of the previous Principal Auditor as Principal Auditor and as such the Report was completed during his tenure. It had however been reported in public on 25 April 2025 that he would be going on pre-retirement leave on 1 June 2025 and that he “...officially retires in August 2025.” If that is correct he must still remain a public officer till retirement. 

“This morning the Speaker also confirmed that the Report had been delivered to Parliament on 13 June 2025 but she did not consider the Report had been properly delivered because the Principal Auditor was not in place at the time. It seems to us that the relevant date is whether he was in post as Principal Auditor when it was completed - 31 May 2025 - which he plainly was. This has been confirmed by the present Principal Auditor. Additionally, if it is right that the former Principal Auditor remains a public officer till August 2025 presumably he had the authority of the present Principal Auditor when he made delivery. All that is relevant. 

“In reaching the view contained in her reply to the Leader of the Opposition the Speaker read her reply fully in Parliament. That has given the public the content of the reply but not of the emails from the Leader of the Opposition. To avoid the public forming misunderstandings of what has been raised or said by the Opposition the GSD is now publishing the Leader of the Opposition’s communications on this issue.”

Mr Azopardi said: 

“While it was not my intention to publish my emails to the Speaker the fact that she has read her reply to me in Parliament now makes it necessary for me to publish the emails I wrote to the Speaker on this important issue of accountability both when I initially raised the issue on 26 June and then made subsequent representations. It would be wrong to allow the public to form a view on this important issue based on the publication of a reply only without understanding our initial email and our representations. That would lead to the public forming a view in a vacuum.

"Our view continues to be that the Report should be published at the earliest opportunity. This is an important issue of constitutional accountability. If the method of delivery is in question (which we do not accept) it can be delivered again and then tabled in Parliament and published this week. We ask that this happen without further delay if necessary by the new Principal Auditor delivering the Report again this week.”

Mr Azopardi added: “Otherwise all that is happening is that we all know a Report exists but it isn’t being released to the public. That just delays and denies accountability of the Government as the Report would then not come out for months at least till the Parliament is next in session.” 

Email reproduced below: