2023-12-30 07:58:52
Vorarlberg’s Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) demands productive work from the federal government until the election date and warns once morest election sweets. Something like 2017 and 2018, when billions were spent in the game of free forces in the National Council without underlying financing, should not happen once more. The issue of housing, for example, is underestimated and the federal government is acting far too timidly, Wallner called for decisions to be made in the first half of 2024.
In the area of housing, the federal states have done their homework, said Wallner in an interview with the APA-Austria Press Agency. However, the federal government is hesitant on points such as the abolition of the registration fee or the property transfer tax for the first purchase of property. The state governor criticized the KIM regulation, which expires in 2025, and is only staring at it instead of suspending it. “The construction industry is being stopped by the authorities,” said Wallner.
Housing will continue to be one of the most important issues in Vorarlberg’s politics next year – when not only the National Council but also the Vorarlberg state parliament is re-elected. “The course has been set, now it’s regarding implementation,” he said, referring to the “Housing 550” project or a land fund that the Vorarlberg state parliament has decided to establish. The improved housing subsidies have also been designed in a contemporary manner.
The governor named the energy industry (“Vorarlberg has the cheapest electricity price in the region and in Austria”), the massive expansion of childcare (100 new care groups will be created in 2024), care and health or the labor market as other key political issues with priority Vorarlberg is currently only in sixth place when it comes to unemployment (November: 5.9 percent) in a federal state comparison, there will be a meeting with the social partners in January to take measures to improve the situation. “We are largely dependent on international economic developments and are very dependent on the German market – more than other federal states,” said Wallner, explaining the ranking of his federal state.
In the spring, Wallner will also pay particular attention to improving safety in public places and the introduction of the “Vorarlberg Code” announced this fall. Everyone who comes to Vorarlberg is asked to respect the local values. For asylum seekers, clear rules for integration are needed, including the acquisition of the German language and participation in the community. “I’m not a fan of parallel societies,” emphasized Wallner. There is also talk of reducing asylum seekers’ 40-euro pocket money if they refuse to do community work – something the Greens, as coalition partners of the ÖVP, reject. In this regard, Wallner stated that ideologies had to be ignored when it came to the question of integration. He also strongly advocated “using common sense.”
When it came to the state elections (2019: October 13), Wallner repeated his stance that Vorarlberg had to have its own election date. This will be determined as soon as the federal government has decided when the National Council election will take place. Within the ÖVP, the dates for the candidate nominations have been set, and discussions are taking place in the background. Wallner did not want to make any predictions regarding the possible outcome of the election; the voters would decide. “Of course we want a clear government mandate,” he admitted. In the 2019 state elections, the ÖVP Vorarlberg achieved a share of the vote of 43.5 percent (17 out of 36 seats).
With regard to the budgets that are also out of control in the federal states and municipalities, Wallner said that it is necessary to slow down the growth. “But that is not possible at the moment due to the crisis,” said the state governor. In the medium term, the state budget must be consolidated. In the next legislative period, the funding will need to be revised, amounts will be frozen “where possible” and further priorities will be established in the hospital system – both organizationally and professionally. Wallner rejected the Vorarlberg hospital doctors’ demand for a 30 percent increase in basic salary, saying this would go further beyond the target.
Wallner called for a specially designed federal financial package for the municipalities. Vorarlberg’s head of government found that the flow of funds to the municipalities decided upon in the financial equalization was not enough. However, the Ministry of Finance has already pointed out that the federal government is making a lot of fresh money available to the municipalities. The states must ensure that the communities receive it.
In times of tightening budgets, citizens’ personal responsibility is once more in greater demand, said Wallner. You have to ask yourself whether you want an unfinanceable welfare state or a modern welfare state. Wallner rejected ideas in this regard to work fewer hours with full wage compensation. “The state should intervene where people cannot help themselves, that is my basic philosophy,” stated Wallner.
When it comes to the Lake Constance Expressway (S18) – one of the state government’s most important infrastructure projects – Federal Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) is blocking the issue, Wallner sharply criticized. He reminded the minister that there was a legal mandate that the road construction company Asfinag had to fulfill. “We will urgently need relief, especially in Lustenau,” said Wallner. In Lustenau in November, a referendum on the S18 had a negative result (Wallner: “wrong time, wrong question”). Gewessler goes once morest Vorarlberg’s wishes and wants to prevent the road. “We want a motorway connection between Vorarlberg and Switzerland, it offers us a low-level dead end,” said Wallner. The Federal Minister is not interested in a real solution as specified in the law. The S18 is currently Asfinag’s largest project and work is being done at full speed on it. The next step will be for Asfinag to put the completed project on the table.
(The interview was conducted by Jochen Hofer/APA)
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