Heated debate

FPÖ attacks against Nehammer and “Austro-Ampel”

Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher and Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer got their comeuppance. SPÖ leader Andreas Babler, as a member of the "Austro-Ampel of losers", was also heavily attacked by the FPÖ.

(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Wednesday's National Council session saw a heated debate on the tense economic situation in Austria. The FPÖ launched an all-out attack on the current and future government.

FPÖ MP Hannes Amesbauer spoke of an average of 18 company bankruptcies per day in the first three quarters of 2024. This was "bad news" from the domestic economy, which he blamed on the current government. Austria is experiencing the longest recession since the Second World War, he said, and the population is increasingly "saving in fear".

FPÖ Member of Parliament Hannes Amesbauer

(Bild: APA/Eva Manhart)

FPÖ: "Nehammer is the problem and not the solution"
The blue parliamentarian also criticized the "Austro-Ampel of election losers" that is currently forming. Furthermore, if there was to be "no more business as usual", as the coalition negotiators from the ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS emphasized, ÖVP leader Karl Nehammer would have to withdraw. The current and probably also future chancellor is "the problem and not the solution".

Economics Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) came to the defense of the black-green coalition and repeatedly earned heckles from the blue benches. There was a global weakness in growth, which affected Austria as an export-oriented country. However, a lot had happened structurally - the federal government had supported companies with innovation, Kocher, who will be Governor of the National Bank in the future, referred to the transformation offensive, for example. Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and the semiconductor industry have benefited. The unemployment rate is below the average of the last ten years, and in the last three years there has also been the highest budget for active labor market policy per jobseeker.

SPÖ scolds the FPÖ's "Sunday speeches"
When it comes to consolidation, "stronger shoulders must bear more than weaker ones", said Michaela Schmidt, who is negotiating the "Economy and Infrastructure" area for the SPÖ in the coalition negotiations. In future, every measure on the revenue side must be examined to see whether it is fair and helps the economy. She criticized the FPÖ for being "only the party of the little man in Sunday speeches".

Rosenkranz had to intervene
Schmidt's negotiating partner Josef Schellhorn (NEOS) emphasized that the situation was dramatic for many companies. However, the FPÖ could not create a positive mood in the economy, he said. Schellhorn also criticized the "shouting" on the part of the FPÖ in parliament, whereupon National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ) asked both speakers and listeners to "heat up the atmosphere less".

National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ) had to intervene.

(Bild: APA/HELMUT FOHRINGER)

Greens also report on the government's successes
Like Kocher, Elisabeth Götze (Greens) spoke of the current government's successes - for example, people's purchasing power had been maintained and would even increase in 2024. She saw problems in the automotive industry as being due to the fact that it had remained in a "backward-looking mindset" and had relied on old technologies for too long.