Two years of red-pink government in Vienna. NEOS club boss Bettina Emmerling in an interview about adhesive chaos, refugees, teacher shortages and secret jobs in the suburbs.
The NEOS have finally moved into their club rooms in Vienna City Hall. 450 square meters for 31 people. Previously, a municipal office with only nine employees was spread over the same area. We spoke to NEOS club boss Bettina Emmerling about the first two years of government and the most burning issues at the moment.
“crown”: Ms Emmerling: Nearly 80 percent of the projects in the government program have already been completed or are being implemented. At this rate, you’ll be done with everything by 2023. What will you do in the run-up to the elections in Vienna in 2025?
Bettina Emmerling: Good question (laughs). No, a lot of unforeseen things happen. We have housed 3,000 Ukrainian children of compulsory school age in schools and 1,000 in kindergartens. The influx of refugees is not yet over. And there are big, long-term projects such as the reform of the Court of Auditors.
There is a dire shortage of teachers and thousands of children still need to be cared for. How does it work?
That is a huge task. We need 1000 extra teachers for Vienna.
As a quick fix, you can shorten training or offer “crash courses” for career changers.
There are career change programs. However, I do not believe in lowering the quality of training.
Changing the subject: What do you think of the sticky clutter that clings to the streets and works of art?
I understand radical measures, as a city we want to be climate neutral by 2040. But violence doesn’t work at all. That’s the red line.
When Environment Minister Gewessler stopped the Lobau tunnel, you applauded it. Unlike your coalition partner SPÖ, who are known for fighting for the tunnel. Doesn’t Vienna need another Danube crossing?
Experts should make that clear. The traffic load on the tangent line decreases. We are against the tunnel, it is not in the coalition agreement either. What we need is a further expansion of public transport.
According to their self-image, the NEOS are the party of transparency. Three recent examples: Who is on the jury for the presentation of the Christkindlmarkt stands is secret. The deposed MA-10 boss got a job – without an advertisement – at Wiener Wohnen. And the new head of city marketing happened to be the mayor’s ex-press secretary. Loud knees for the SPÖ?
We are the small partner, the SPÖ is six times the size. We are transparent in our region. We are the only party to disclose all income and expenses. And our voting system is open to everyone.
What are you doing about the terrible inflation?
With the Vienna Energy Support we have created a socially accurate model to help quickly and unbureaucratically. We also wanted the municipal taxes not to rise, but unfortunately we didn’t get our way.
City boss Michael Ludwig wants an easier grant of citizenship and is criticized by parts of his own party. Are you in favor of the proposal?
This proposal goes too far for us. However, bureaucratic and financial obstacles for people who want to integrate must be removed in Vienna.
Thank you for the conversation.
Source: Krone
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