The budget draft by Finance Minister Magnus Brunner (ÖVP) was met with scathing criticism from the opposition in the National Council on Thursday. In the so-called “First Reading”, the SPÖ, FPÖ and NEOS outbid each other with negative statements. In particular, the excessive debt, the watering can principle and the general aimlessness were criticized. Turquoise-Green objected that they wanted to “invest out of the crisis”, the Greens fired at the SPÖ and localized “populism”.
After all, there were praising words at the start, because the first speaker was ÖVP club president August Wöginger. He acknowledged that the budget was not only used to counter the crisis, but also to invest as a result: “Austria needs to come out of the crisis stronger, safer and more independent. This budget forms the basis for this’, was Wöginger’s credo, who reviewed all the reliefs from the past weeks and months.
“There is a lack of effectiveness and accuracy”
The assessment of SPÖ club president Pamela Rendi-Wagner was very different. She judged that the government is not underspending, but that the spending is not paying off: “There is a lack of crucial things, there is a lack of effect, benefit and accuracy.” Inflation does not fall and growth stagnates.
“Spending money is not a concept,” criticized the SP chairman. The “dangerous financial excess” is at the expense of the taxpayer: “The Austrian people must clean up this budgetary mess.”
FPÖ angry over Russia sanctions
That was a bit much even for opposition partner FPÖ. Ex-Secretary of State Hubert Fuchs did not start his speech with an attack on the government, but dealt with the SPÖ’s financial policy during their reign. “If it hadn’t been for the SPÖ government participation, we would now have more leeway.” The SPÖ is itself a master of the watering can principle.
Of course, his anger at the Social Democrats didn’t stop Fuchs from expressing his views to the coalition. “The mountain of debt is increasing immeasurably,” criticized the PVV, emphasizing that under FP’s government participation there was a debt of 280 billion and that it has increased by 87 billion since then. Fuchs saw the sanctions against Russia as the reason for this, “the death knell for the economy”.
Maurer pinpoints ‘populist line’
Green club president Sigrid Maurer then returned to the SPÖ, who could hardly believe her ears when Rendi-Wagner spoke. Because the SPÖ government has been doing too little for years and now it is suddenly too much. The Social Democrats need to think about which populist line they want to take.
In any case, what the SPÖ left behind was a mess in the field of energy policy. The government is now fixing this and many other things with the Greens. The spearheads are energy independence, inflation damping and safety.
“Just because you spend money doesn’t mean it’s good”
The NEOS are very dissatisfied with the budget work. Structural conservatism and “whatever it takes,” acknowledged budget spokeswoman Karin Doppelbauer. Nearly $400 billion in debt in a few years is fatal and irresponsible: “Just because you spend more money doesn’t mean it’s good.”
In the budget, Doppelbauer sees a “tough fate for Austria’s future. Even during the pandemic, money was thrown out the window with both hands. This should finally put an end to the all-encompassing mentality. The SPÖ also did not stop criticizing of NEOS Club vice Gerald Loacker told the government’s red rebuke of excessive spending that there had been no money-guzzling action that the SPÖ had not thought of.
Source: Krone
I’m an experienced news author and editor based in New York City. I specialize in covering healthcare news stories for Today Times Live, helping to keep readers informed on the latest developments related to the industry. I have a deep understanding of medical topics, including emerging treatments and drugs, the changing laws that regulate healthcare providers, and other matters that affect public health.
