Innsbruck Municipal Council

The FPÖ asks: Social benefits – but for whom?

Innsbruck municipal council

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The council's moral compass comes to light during the January municipal council's topical hour. Everyone agrees that help is needed. There is less agreement on the question of which people in need should be given a helping hand.

In Innsbruck's municipal council, much of the discussion revolved around the financially weakest members of society. The topic chosen by the Freedom Party for the topical hour "Social benefits - just for whom?" brought the moral heartbeat of the local council to the table early in the morning.

Unfortunately, some say "We are saving the world" - and help people from all over the world, but our people are forgotten.

Reini Happ (FPÖ)

The recognition of the usefulness of a "housing first" principle prevailed across the political groups. Reini Happ (FPÖ) also emphasized this. Housing first means first and foremost organizing accommodation for homeless people. This does not mean emergency shelters, but permanent housing. As expected, opinions differed on the subject of migration.

The subsidies are too low and need to be increased to enable people to live in dignity.

Pia Tomedi (KPÖ)

Here, the FPÖ took one side - all other parliamentary groups took the other. Andrea Haselwanter-Schneider (Liste Fritz), for example, said in response to Happ's speech: "Where I disagree with you is when you keep saying 'Our people'. The job of a city is to help those who can't help themselves. Of course there are a few who are resting in the social hammock, but there are just as many 'Daige' as there are immigrants."

Of course there are a few who lie in the social hammock, but there are just as many "daige" as immigrants.

Andrea Haselwanter-Schneider (Liste Fritz)

It was also emphasized several times - for example by the governing parties YES, SPÖ and Greens - that social benefits such as the minimum income must be essential for social peace in a city.

The allocation of social benefits should not be linked to origin, but to need.

Martin Hörhager (JA)

Agenda item 4/h reignited the discussion when it came to signing the "Declaration of the Rights of Homeless People". Here, all but the FPÖ voted in favor. Councillor Markus Lassenberger (FPÖ) explained the voting behavior by saying that some of the eleven points contradicted the legal situation. For example, point eleven states "The right to carry out necessary survival practices within the framework of the law" - this refers to so-called containerizing, i.e. fishing discarded food out of supermarket garbage containers. This is theft, said Lassenberger. All other groups voted in favor.

Erklärung der Rechte obdachloser Menschen

Bekenntnis zur Homeless Bill of Rights

1. Das Recht auf Wohnen: Einstimmig
2. Das Recht auf Zugang zu angemessenen Notunterkünften: Einstimmig
3. Das Recht, den öffentlichen Raum zu nutzen und sich frei darin bewegen: gegen die Stimmen der FPÖ
4. Das Recht auf Gleichbehandlung: Einstimmig
5. Das Recht auf eine Postanschrift: Einstimmig
6. Das Recht auf grundlegende sanitäre Einrichtungen: Einstimmig
7. Das Recht auf Notfalldienste: Einstimmig
8. Das Recht zu wählen: gegen die Stimmen der FPÖ
9. Das Recht auf Datenschutz: Einstimmig
10. Das Recht auf Privatsphäre: Einstimmig
11. Das Recht, notwendige Überlebenspraktiken im Rahmen der Gesetze auszuüben (Containern, Betteln): gegen die Stimmen der FPÖ

Remembrance project in two phases
The planned memorial project in Reichenau, which is to be carried out in two phases, was also the subject of heated debate. In an amendment supported by the KPÖ, Liste Fritz and Ali, Das neue Innsbruck wanted the project to be carried out once. This did not receive a majority.