"The most brutal job"

Meinl-Reisinger wants finance ministry for NEOS

Among other things, Beate Meinl-Reisinger (NEOS) wants people to have more net from gross.

(Bild: APA/GEORG HOCHMUTH)

The NEOS want to join the government for the first time after the National Council elections in the fall. But only if they see pink ideas realized in a possible coalition, emphasizes their chairwoman Beate Meinl-Reisinger, who is standing for re-election as party leader at a general meeting on Saturday.

The NEOS leader has her eye on the Ministry of Finance. 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 had already noted several times during the debate on the budget speech, urgent measures are needed to restructure the budget. After all, it has been clear for some time that the "whatever the cost" policy will ultimately "fall on the taxpayer's head", said Meinl-Reisinger: "I believe that we need a brake on spending and, above all, we need to look at where there are inefficiencies, for example, duplications in the administration need to be eliminated."

Meinl-Reisinger also wants to take a close look at federalism. After all, there are "double and triple tracks, for example in the areas of health and education, with expensive systems and less performance." At the same time, room for maneuver must be created to reduce the burden.

I'm not going into the election campaign and saying: great, I'm going to be the cuddly junior partner.

Beate Meinl-Reisinger

Bild: APA/Tobias Steinmaurer

Ministerial lists are already circulating
In any case, the NEOS will not be fobbed off with the Ministry of Education in any coalition negotiations. Apparently, lists of ministers are already circulating among functionaries in the ÖVP or SPÖ, which attribute the Ministry of Education to the NEOS - "which I find quite original that it's already about distributing the posts." Although the education department would "rightly" be in good hands with the NEOS, "we can do more than that - and when it comes to budget restructuring or relieving the burden on people, we are obviously the only ones with the courage to address things and then implement what is necessary." The Pinks are not interested in "being allowed to play along, but in real reforms. That's what we were founded for," said Meinl-Reisinger: "I'm not going into the election campaign and saying: great, I'm going to be the cuddly junior partner."

Meinl-Reisinger is unperturbed by the fact that the NEOS' critical stance towards the provincial governors (keyword: "provincial princes") could be detrimental in any coalition negotiations: "I'm not in this world to make ÖVP functionaries happy, but to move this country forward." To this end, the "blockade attitude of the provincial governors and their completely future-forgotten irresponsibility with regard to state spending" must come to an end. "Spendthrift federalism" is "absolutely irresponsible", emphasized the NEOS chairwoman: "And it is high time that these provincial governors were set limits."

Austria very inefficient in some areas
In order to get the spending problem under control, inefficiencies must also be eliminated. If you compare Austria with other countries, such as Scandinavia, the education and healthcare systems in this country are much more expensive with comparatively poorer services. "And if you look at this on a large scale, you can see that Austria spends around 17 billion more than comparable countries." Meinl-Reisinger rejected the accusation by "the left" that the NEOS wanted to undermine the welfare state: "I want people to have more net from gross, and the 17 billion would actually be pretty much exactly the volume we would need to achieve a tax-to-GDP ratio of under 40 percent."

Nehammer, Kickl and Babler "not thrilled"
Meinl-Reisinger is not worried that an escalation to the chancellor duel between ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer and FPÖ leader Herbert Kickl could cost the NEOS votes. Nehammer, Kickl - and also Babler, who is claiming to be in the race - are "all three of them not very exciting". Kickl is "the spirit who is always in denial" and only ever puts everyone down. And she attested to Nehammer and Babler's "lack of leadership". She does not see the "energy to tackle the necessary reforms" in either of them.

The NEOS leader is also not worried about the Beer Party running. After all, the NEOS "have been on the playing field professionally for ten years and are ready to take on government responsibility", said Meinl-Reisinger: "I believe that on election day, we should not just focus on expressing our dissatisfaction, but on having a reform coalition afterwards." And Meinl-Reisinger believes that the Beer Party is not an option for this.