'I think he forgets he’s a minister': FKNK praise for Camilleri met with disgust

A recent speech by the hunting federation president at an election campaign event held by Gozo and Planning Minister Clint Camilleri was further proof of the Labour Party “bending over backwards” to accommodate the lobby, according to the CEO of BirdLife Malta. 

In a glowing appraisal of Camilleri, Lucas Micallef said the minister always listened, understood, acted, and protected the pastimes.

“We have faced every problem and challenge imaginable in Europe, because no other pastime has ended up before the European Court more times than ours. They closed the door on us, so we went through the window; they closed the window, so we went through the vent, and by now I think we have even managed to get through the grout,” he told Camilleri’s event on May 10 at Pjazza San Pietru u San Pawl in Nadur.

Micallef was referring to Malta’s long-running clash with the EU over finch trapping. 

Malta lost a major European Court of Justice case in 2018 over recreational finch trapping, then reintroduced trapping under a “research” derogation, only to lose again before the ECJ in 2024.

“I would like to say that whenever a problem arises, no matter the time, Clint is always there... Sometimes I think he forgets he’s a minister,” Micallef said, while also describing an episode when Camilleri called him to discuss a problem at 11pm.

Camilleri is the government minister politically responsible for Malta’s hunting policy and for the Wild Birds Regulation Unit, the body that oversees hunting rules and enforcement.

Reacting to Micallef’s speech, BirdLife Malta CEO Mark Sultana said he was not surprised by Micallef’s endorsement of Camilleri, which he pointed out followed a similar endorsement during the 2022 election campaign. 

“It is a result of what we have seen in the PL legislature, with the PL bending over backwards to please hunters in all their wishes, purely for this reason: their votes,” Sultana said. 

He said the government’s decision to “please” the hunting lobby was not based on science, logic, or respect for nature and the common good. 

“They were politically motivated decisions aimed at attracting hunters’ votes.”

“In his speech, Mr Micallef, while trying to greenwash the enjoyment of killing and trapping birds, showed that FKNK wants lower fines for hunters who break the law. This comes at a time when illegal killing is rampant and on the increase, making me wonder what they expect would come out of their umpteenth wish coming true, except more illegal killing of birds,” he said.

“The self-entitlement of this lobby is revolting.”

A spokesperson for Camilleri said: “The minister has always acted in accordance with the duties assigned to him in the ministerial portfolios for which he is responsible.”