Criticism of Budget Plans

Mikl-Leitner: “The SPÖ doesn’t grasp the gravity of the situation!”

Mikl-Leitner offers mild criticism of the federal government and clear criticism of the SPÖ.(Bild: Imre Antal)

Austria’s most powerful conservative is seeing red: Lower Austria’s state leader Johanna Mikl-Leitner criticizes the SPÖ and demands greater tax autonomy for the states from the federal government.

Enough is enough, people in St. Pölten have been thinking these days. Even ahead of the budget speech by SPÖ Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer scheduled for Wednesday, Lower Austria’s powerful ÖVP state leader Johanna Mikl-Leitner has spoken out on the national budget —and at the same time expressed “serious doubts” as to whether “the SPÖ has truly understood the economic gravity of the situation.”

Inventing new taxes is the SPÖ’s “main activity”
In light of the global crises, it must be clear to everyone that Austria cannot change the world. “But we can decide how we respond to it. Just looking at the reaction of the Vice-Chancellor and the Finance Minister to this crisis, I have serious doubts as to whether they have truly understood the gravity of the situation,” Mikl-Leitner explains to the “Krone.”

For while relief for the economy is urgently needed, the Ministry of Finance is working on tax lotteries. “Inventing new taxes seems to be their main activity there. Under Finance Minister Hannes Androsch, social democracy still stood for jobs and economic common sense. Today, they apparently want to keep tightening the screws until the last business, worn down, throws in the towel,” she criticizes.

Those who work shouldn’t be the ones left holding the short end of the stick. Those who give their all every day must have significantly more than those who don’t work!

Johanna Mikl-Leitner

“Social assistance only for the most vulnerable”
Austerity and tax-hiking fantasies alone are not enough; more effort is needed to give farmers, businesses, and their employees a sense of hope for the future again. Vice-Chancellor Andreas Babler, Marterbauer, and Co. could definitely save money, however, if the federal government were to implement a uniform social assistance system modeled after Lower Austria’s. “Here, social assistance is only for the most vulnerable, not for the most brazen. This must also apply in the rest of Austria.” While Vienna spent the “unbelievable” sum of 1.1 billion euros on minimum income support last year, Lower Austria spent less than 63 million euros on social assistance.

Greater tax autonomy for states as a demand
But what, in the governor’s view, would be the alternative to hoping that the federal government gets its act together? “I’ll say it quite openly now: If nothing comes of the many reforms announced at the federal level, it would be better for the states to gain more authority and a share of tax sovereignty. Then, in healthy competition among the federal states, we could implement tax relief measures ourselves.”

“No games” with security
And Mikl-Leitner also takes a clear stance in the debate on conscription, supporting the recommendations of the expert commission. “To me, the disregard for the current geopolitical situation and the expert commission’s proposals is completely incomprehensible.” The federal government should follow the example of Lower Austria’s independent approach: “For our Lower Austrian health plan, we asked the best experts to develop proposals. We adopted their proposals together with all governing parties across party lines—FPÖ, SPÖ, and ÖVP. And we are now implementing them point by point with full commitment. All of the state’s renowned experts praise this collaborative approach. That’s how you handle the really big, important projects.”

She expects the same from the three parties in the federal government. Politicians were elected to make decisions, not to engage in petty party politics against the clear recommendations of the professionals. “That is what our fellow citizens also expect from the members of parliament and the federal government. With so many trouble spots right on our doorstep, there must be no partisan games when it comes to our security,” adds Mikl-Leitner.