Punch of the week

When the neighbor receives more climate bonus money

Environment and Mobility Minister Leonore Gewessler.

(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Not all Viennese receive the same amount of climate bonus money. In 16 districts, residents receive significantly less money than in the others. The Gewessler logic of dividing Vienna - our Punch and Judy of the week. 

The risk that Leonore Gewessler (Greens) will also be a member of the next federal government is manageable. Now the minister has once again handed out with her hands full. Tax money that belongs to the citizens anyway, not to her. But good. We can all look forward to a climate bonus again.

But not every Viennese receives the same amount. In 16 districts there is significantly less than in the others. Take Kirchfeldgasse on the border between Meidling and Liesing, for example. Residents on the 23rd district side receive 50 euros more than their neighbors on the Hetzendorf side of the street. The latter only receive 145 euros because they have a better public transport connection according to Gewessler's logic. 

The amount of the bonus depends on the main place of residence. In the countryside, where buses and trains are in short supply and people are dependent on cars, there is more money. Less in the big city (why the subsidy is not called a mobility bonus is another question). Austria is divided into four zones, Vienna into two.

But the internal division of the city into bonus categories seems completely arbitrary. The residents of Währing are financially better off than their counterparts in Hernals, residents of Penzing worse off than those in Hietzing. Dear Ms. Gewessler, you are our Punch and Judy of the week.