The NEOS want to participate in government for the first time after the National Council elections in the fall. But only if you see pink ideas realized in a possible coalition, emphasizes party leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who will stand for re-election during a general meeting on Saturday.
The NEOS boss has the Ministry of Finance in mind. It would be “important if we were given responsibility for the Ministry of Finance,” she said.
Although this is the “most brutal job in Austria,” as she has repeatedly noted during the debate on the budget speech, urgent measures are needed to restructure the budget. Since it has long been foreseeable that the “whatever it costs” policy will ultimately “fall on the taxpayer’s head,” Meinl-Reisinger says: “I believe that we need a spending brake and that we should especially look at where there are inefficiencies. For example, duplication of work in administration must be eliminated.”
Meinl-Reisinger also wants to examine federalism. After all, there are “double and triple tracks, for example when it comes to responsibilities in health care or education, with expensive systems and less performance”. At the same time, space for relief must be created.
Ministerial lists are already circulating
The NEOS will not let themselves be fobbed off by the Ministry of Education in any coalition negotiations. Apparently, ministerial lists were already circulating among civil servants from the ÖVP and the SPÖ, who attributed the Ministry of Education to the NEOS – “which I find quite original, that it is now about the distribution of positions.” The education department would “rightly” be in good hands with the NEOS, “but we can do more than that – and when it comes to budget restructuring or easing people’s burdens, we are of course the only ones who have the courage to tackle things and then implement what is necessary”. For the Pinks, it is not about being allowed to play along, but about real reforms. That is why we set ourselves up,” says Meinl-Reisinger: “I am not going into the election campaign and saying: great, I will now become the cuddly junior partner.”
Meinl-Reisinger is not concerned that the NEOS’s critical attitude towards the state governors (keyword: ‘state princes’) could be detrimental to possible coalition negotiations: ‘I am not here to make ÖVP officials happy, but to make them happy. To achieve this, the blockade attitude of the state governors and their irresponsibility with regard to state expenditure, which is completely unaware of the future, must come to an end. “Spending federalism” is “absolutely irresponsible”, emphasizes the NEOS chairman. “It is high time that limits were set for these state governors.”
Austria is partly very inefficient
To get the expenditure problem under control, inefficiencies would also have to be eliminated. If you compare Austria with other countries, for example the Scandinavian countries, the education and health care system in this country is much more expensive and the services are comparatively worse. ‘And if you look at it on a large scale, you see that Austria spends about 17 billion euros more than comparable countries.’ Meinl-Reisinger rejected the accusation ‘from the left’ that the NEOS wanted to undermine the welfare state: ‘I have done that. I want people to have more net gross, and those 17 billion would actually be exactly the volume that we would need to get a tax rate of less than 40 percent.
Nehammer, Kickl and Babler “not sparkling”
Meinl-Reisinger is not afraid that an escalation to a ‘chancellor duel’ between ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer and FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl could cost the NEOS votes. Nehammer, Kickl and also SPÖ leader Andreas Babler are “all three not sparkling”. Kickl is “the spirit that always denies” and “always puts everyone down”. Nehammer and Babler testified to a “lack of leadership”. In both cases, she does not see “the energy to implement the necessary reforms”.
Even the Beer Party’s performance won’t cause the NEOS boss any headaches. After all, the NEOS has been “professionally in the field for ten years and is ready to take on the responsibility of government,” says Meinl-Reisinger. “I believe that on election day you shouldn’t just focus on expressing your discontent, but that it should be about having a reform coalition afterwards.” And the Beer Party is not an offer for that, says Meinl-Reisinger.
Source: Krone
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
