At a summer council of ministers in sunny Reichenau an der Rax, the government provided peaceful pictures and a short list of the main focuses of work for the autumn. The SPÖ and NEOS identified insubstantiality and “expensive show politics”.
The government crowd moved to the Lower Austrian spa town of Reichenau an der Rax on Wednesday, as did a large number of media representatives. By the way, their shuttle bus first landed at the wrong castle in the tranquil town. As big as the effort for the all-round staging, the government meeting itself was so short. After that, Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) and Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (Greens) appeared together in front of the journalists.
It was heated up due to the lack of air conditioning not only at the press conference, but also recently within the coalition – from the climate-Stone Age dispute to the judicial debate. Of course, the top government tried to downplay the quarrels: When asked whether the stones had been cleared out of the way, Kurz said that he had actually “not seen many stones”. The cooperation is going well, that there are “one or the other different approach” is nothing unusual in a democracy. Over the past few years he has learned not to be “disturbed by every little thing”. Kogler agreed that “overall” it worked well, as you can see in the results and joint projects. “There is good energy inside.”
Kurz also interpreted the demand of the Green Justice Minister Alma Zadic in connection with the trial against Kurz for an “end of the constant politicization of the debate, but also of the public prosecutor’s office” in his sense: “I would like that”, because the “attempt “Making politics with criminal law” is anything but good, he criticized once more of the charges against him. “I think that is something unpleasant” that damages the political culture. “Politics should be a competition for the best ideas, not the best ads.”
At the press conference, Kurz gave a “compact overview” of the autumn work, which was also recorded in an equally compact Ministerial Council lecture without any details. Unsurprisingly, fighting pandemics remains one of the focal points. Many young people are currently affected by Corona. 67 percent have been vaccinated at least once, so they are on the right track, but more young people should be vaccinated, the Chancellor appealed – “the vaccination is the only protection we currently have”. The arrangements have been made for starting school and for the booster vaccinations in the fall, and the government has been prepared. Kurz did not give any details.
The Chancellor also ruled out a general compulsory vaccination: “There will be no compulsory vaccination in Austria.” In certain areas, such as the health sector, there are already obligations, he added, and this is currently being decided at the level of the federal states. Compulsory PCR testing for all travelers returning is also unlikely to be planned anytime soon. You have to keep an eye on the numbers, but proceed according to risk, said Kogler.
In addition to Corona, Kurz named the areas of business location and work, a “digitization boost” for education, investments in climate policy and digitization, as well as security and the fight against illegal migration, as further priorities. The long-awaited care reform can also be found in the list. According to Kogler, this is about improving training and working conditions.
The first topic that Kogler addressed at the press conference was the climate crisis – and with it the coalition’s conflict issue in recent weeks. He had spoken to victims of the flood in Hallein, “those are really dramatic impressions,” emphasized the Green. The effects are already present, “they are not just somewhere at the North Pole”, but in the middle of Austria. We see confirmation that we should press ahead with climate protection, because “the events speak for themselves”. The relevant parts of the government program will be pursued on a sustained basis. It is also about the eco-social tax reform, with which climate-damaging behavior is to become more expensive, but overall the tax burden should decrease, especially for small and middle incomes, affirmed Kogler. They did not want to say anything specific when asked.
Criticism came from the opposition. SPÖ Federal Managing Director Christian Deutsch spoke of a “insubstantial” summer council of ministers. With its “zero number at Reichenau Castle”, the government operated “extremely expensive refusal to work” – and offered neither content nor substance. “Instead, turquoise-green has once again produced a lot of hot air, headlines and announcements that do not take our country one step further.” With the Council of Ministers, the government had “after weeks of dispute and public hiccups” pursued a “very easily understandable goal”, namely to pretend zeal and harmony, but nobody would believe it any more.
NEOS vice-club chairman Gerald Loacker also found unflattering words for the “government excursion”: “On March 16, 2020, the government ordered the first nationwide lockdown. Today, exactly 500 days later to the day, Chancellor Kurz and his ministers All of a sudden, the government should perhaps do something in the area of digitizing schools in the fall, “he said in a broadcast. Headlines would not do a pandemic fight for a long time, “no eco-social tax reform, no nursing reform and no climate protection”, said the pink MP, who spoke of “expensive show politics”.
