Another chairmanship for the Mizzis as Byron Camilleri appoints Antonio

Education Minister Byron Camilleri has handed retired judge Antonio Mizzi another government chairmanship, extending the minister’s appointment links with the Mizzi family on the same day The Shift exposed a €53,300 direct-order lease awarded to Mizzi’s wife by Camilleri’s former ministry.

Mizzi’s appointment as chairman of the Council for the Teaching Profession was announced in the Government Gazette on 2 October. His wife, former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi, and their daughter Alexandra have also held paid chairmanships within Camilleri’s ministerial portfolio.

No remuneration was announced for the new position. However, The Shift is informed that it carries an annual payment of €20,000, adding another income stream to the former judge’s publicly funded roles.

Camilleri’s move from Home Affairs to Education has thus brought another appointment for a family whose members already featured repeatedly on the boards under his responsibility.

Antonio Mizzi, who is over 75, holds several other government positions, including chairman of the Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sports, Commissioner of Laws and chairman of the Embryo Protection Authority, among others. These roles supplement his lucrative judicial pension and ordinary state pension.

He has also been entrusted with sensitive government inquiries, including the inquiry into the MCAST scandal announced last year.

His latest appointment further expands an already substantial collection of public responsibilities.

The Mizzi family’s links to Camilleri are documented in parliament.

In July 2024, Camilleri confirmed that Antonio Mizzi chaired the Parole Board for €11,736.75 annually. Alexandra, his daughter, chaired the Citizenship by Merit Recommendation Board, receiving €22.95 per hour for board meetings. Marlene, his wife and a former Labour MEP, chaired Identità and its subsidiary, Malta Electronic Certification Services.

Alongside those appointments, which remain in place, Marlene Mizzi holds a directorship at KM Malta Airlines, while Alexandra also serves on the SportMalta board, now also under Byron Camilleri’s responsibility.

Antonio Mizzi’s latest chairmanship coincided with revelations that public money was also flowing to Marlene Mizzi through a property agreement.

Last week, The Shift revealed that the Home Affairs Ministry, then headed by Camilleri, awarded her a direct order worth €53,299.99 excluding VAT to lease premises in Vincenti Buildings, Strait Street, Valletta.

The award, dated 27 May 2025, exactly one year after her appointment as Identità chairperson within the same ministerial portfolio, was published in the government’s official journal.

Despite that overlap, questions about how the property was selected and why a direct order was used remain unanswered. Neither Marlene Mizzi nor the government replied to The Shift’s questions.

The lease duration is also undisclosed, meaning the published amount cannot be treated as an annual rent. The notice does not identify who personally approved the award, although The Shift is informed that Permanent Secretary Joyce Dimech handled the file.

Until 2024, Marlene Mizzi also chaired another government plc, Malita, before being replaced by then Housing Minister Roderick Galdes. Her replacement came after she publicly accused Galdes of “hobnobbing” with contractors.

Galdes was made to resign last year and was barred by the Labour Party from contesting the election.