Holding another spring hunting referendum next year was “unreasonable”, according to Environment Minister José Herrera.

Conservationist NGO BirdLife last week raised the prospect of seeking a second referendum on spring hunting because of government “provocation”.

The ornithological society lashed out at the government after the consultative Ornis Committee, which includes government representatives, proposed moving the spring hunting season for quail to coincide with the peak migration of turtle doves.

Read: Another spring hunting referendum could be on the cards, Birdlife hints

A referendum that sought to abolish the season altogether was held in 2015, with voters narrowly deciding in favour of retaining the hunt.

The next European election, scheduled for May 2019, is considered by BirdLife as the most plausible date for a second attempt to abolish spring hunting.

Asked for a reaction, Dr Herrera said late last week the government had no official position on the matter and had not yet discussed it internally.

Speaking in his personal capacity, Dr Herrera said the electorate had already had its say.

“Once a decision is made, that's it. I don’t think it is reasonable to hold a referendum again on the same subject in such a short time frame,” he said.

When it was pointed out that the Referenda Act allowed for repeat attempts to abolish laws in follow-up votes, Dr Herrera said though that was the case, it was “not practical”.

The 2015 referendum is estimated to have cost taxpayers about €4.6 million. Dr Herrera added that repeating a referendum so soon could undermine the reason for holding the vote in the first place.

“What is the point of a referendum if it is held and an opinion has been expressed only for it to be held again a few years later?” he said.

The minister stressed that he was not saying votes on the same subject matter could not be taken more than once but that a sufficiently long period should be allowed.

The minister's comments sparked an immediate reaction from BLM CEO Mark Sultana who said that while the natural environment in Malta is threatened and challenged daily in an unreasonable way, the minister had labelled a referendum to protect nature as unreasonable.

"Dear Minister @JoseHerreraMP quick to label another spring hunting referendum as unreasonable. What about the way ORNIS is composed...is that reasonable to you?" he said in one of a series of tweets.

The conservationists who seek a referendum will first have to go through the arduous collection of about 40,000 signatures to kickstart the process.

Hunters are hoping that parliamentarians will be swayed by the roughly 100,000 signatures they collected in a bid to block any future referenda that “target minority groups”.

That petition is currently before a parliamentary committee.

Asked about the hunters’ attempt to block any future votes affecting spring hunting, Dr Herrera said that, in principle, he did not agree with limiting referenda any more than was already mapped out in the Referenda Act.