Transport Minister Chris Bonett breached code of ethics - Standards Commissioner

Transport Minister Chris Bonett has been found to have breached the parliamentary code of ethics by the Standards Commissioner. 

The breach concerns a government statement issued by Bonett published via the Department of Information, following a press conference on traffic management in July by Nationalist Party MPs Mark Anthony Sammut and Joe Giglio. 

That statement was reported to parliament's standards tzar by the two PN MPs, who argued that it amounted to a "partisan declaration" issued through official government channels. 

PN MP Mark Anthony Sammut's Facebook post on Wednesday. Photo: Facebook

The MPs accused Bonett of failing to keep his roles in government and the Labour Party separate, and using the tools of the state to convey propaganda rather than factual information. 

Writing on Facebook, Sammut said the standards commissioner has now passed on his report to the Parliamentary Committee for Standards in Public Life.

That means the report found that the minister was responsible for an ethical breach, as reports which are dismissed are not referred to the parliamentary committee.  

Sammut, who is a member of the standards committee in parliament,  has said he will recuse himself when the committee eventually discusses the report and its findings, which remain private.

‘I respectfully disagree ’ – Bonett 

The minister, however, made it clear he believed he had done nothing wrong. 

Writing on Facebook, Bonett said he respected the standards commissioner  but disagreed with his conclusions. 

"Since the constitution makes it clear that a minister has to be a member of parliament, this means that one can’t make a distinction between a minister and an MP, because they are the same person,” he said.

A partisan statement issued by the ministry should not be considered an ethical breach if it broke no laws and was not offensive, he said. 

“We’ve heard them several times talking about freedom of expression, but now they want gag me,” he said of the Opposition. 

Transport Minister Chris Bonett's post on Wednesday. Photo: Facebook

Bonett's views on what constitutes an ethical breach does not tally with previous findings by the Standards Commissioner, however. 

In 2024, the commissioner made a similar ruling against Environment Minister Miriam Dalli, finding that she had breached the ministerial code of ethics by allowing a partisan statement to be issued. 

Dalli subsequently apologised and the matter did not go further. 

In his report on that case, Azzopardi highlighted recommendations made by his predecessor George Hyzler on the need for a policy governing DOI statements.   

The commissioner said the DOI should be able to refuse to publish government statements that go against this policy.