Is a wealth tax coming?

Meinl-Reisinger: “The super-rich will be gone”

(Bild: krone.tv)

In the last krone.tv summer interview of this year, NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger answers questions from Jana Pasching and Gerhard Koller. The focus is on education, the economy and the future coalition options after the National Council elections on Sunday.  

Right at the beginning of the interview, the Neos leader gave the current turquoise-green government a bad report card: "Structural problems have not been tackled. As a force for reform, we want to get the somewhat outdated SPÖ and ÖVP parties to finally deliver again." She immediately rejects SPÖ leader Andreas Babler's calls for a new wealth tax (aka 'tax on the rich', note): "The super-rich will be gone."

When it comes to education, she makes a clear demand: "We need 20,000 additional teachers. That must be the first thing we do when we come into government." When it comes to German, we need to demand more, not just promote it. The last major school reform was in 1962, when the last gas lantern in Vienna was switched off. Nothing worth mentioning has happened since then." From the NEOS leader's point of view, more freedom is generally needed in schools: "More freedom for teachers and principals to make decisions." And Meinl-Reisinger's conclusion on the future of teachers: "The best should become teachers. And not those who just feel like it."

NEOS leader Beate Meinl-Reisinger in the krone.tv summer interview

(Bild: krone.tv)

Pension reform unavoidable
Also very open on the subject of the economy: "I am the only one who says that savings must be made. We are reviewing every cent that is spent. And prohibit double and triple funding. And there is one point without which it will not work in the long term, and that is pension reform." Meinl-Reisinger's view of the general economic situation is sobering: "We are in a review. We are getting poorer and the mountain of debt is growing. Anyone who can do the math knows that pensions won't pay for themselves. But the young must be able to rely on it. I'm really worried about Austria's - and Europe's - economic development. Our approach: wage costs must come down so that the costs for employers go down and more net remains with the citizens."

Reform engine Neos?
On the question of how to get the economy moving again, Meinl-Reisinger believes that bureaucracy should be tackled: "We have a lot of bureaucracy of our own making. We can't go on like this. For example, if the authorities don't manage to approve something within a reasonable period of time - perhaps 6 months - then please consider it approved! And I am against a 32-hour week for everyone. The state has to make an effort again, the government has to make an effort again, but we all have to make an effort again. Taxes have to go down, then work will be worthwhile."

View of other parties
Meinl-Reisinger: "We are the force for reform and show the greatest opportunity for reform. But yes, the FPÖ doesn't have bad ideas in some areas either." Looking towards the ÖVP and its debate on values: "It is not decisive for the war whether immigrants go to the beer tent and wear a dirndl." When asked how she sees her time in politics in general, she concludes with a grin: "Sometimes politics really is a bad thriller. But we'll write a better script for the next few years."