Sacked minister, PM’s former assistant, and Lou Bondi advised Clayton Bartolo

Former tourism minister Clayton Bartolo, sacked last November, employed a raft of consultants, including former minister Aaron Farrugia, the prime minister’s legal assistant Ryan Pace and former PN strategist Lou Bondi.

A Freedom of Information request filed by The Shift revealed that Bartolo spent tens of thousands of euros engaging these advisers on a person-of-trust basis.

Bondi, Pace and Farrugia were among the most highly paid.

Aaron Farrugia, the former Transport Minister sacked by Prime Minister Robert Abela in his latest reshuffle in January 2024, did not take long to return to the government’s payroll.

While cashing in €33,000 in terminal benefits for being made redundant by Abela, Clayton Bartolo immediately engaged him as a consultant at the tourism ministry in March 2024.

Bartolo gave his former Cabinet colleague a €71,000 full-time contract as his policy adviser, with his mission being to help his chief of staff with policy and ministry direction.

Apart from his basic contract, amounting to over €40,000 a year, the OPM approved a €20,000 expertise allowance for Farrugia, pushing his financial package to some €71,000, including other allowances.

Farrugia ended up receiving a higher income than he did as minister a few months earlier. He was also appointed Malta’s ambassador to the International Maritime Organisation, paid separately.

Lou Bondi was also one of Bartolo’s ministry’s consultants, primarily on communications and PR. He was given a €50,000 contract to act as Bartolo’s adviser on communications and marketing.

Bondi had been advising Bartolo since 2022, with his contract renewed annually.

Ryan Pace, the prime minister’s assistant at his former private legal firm, was also made a part-time consultant on legal issues, including complaints filed with the Standards Commissioner.

Pace, still in his early 30s, was paid €32,000 a year for 20 hours a week, including a €7,500 expertise allowance.

In December, The Shift reported that Pace held 11 different government jobs. The latest €32,000-a-year contract continues to sustain questions on how he can deliver on all these jobs.

Through his various government contracts, Pace is supposed to work over 120 hours a week, besides his private practice.

Other advisers employed with Bartolo were Alexander Debono, Alfred Attard, Charles Debattista, John Grima, Joseph Borg, Richard Schembri, Adrian Said Calleja, Joseph Fava, Mario Azzopardi and Stephen McCarthy.