First Budget Day in the National Council: Heated Debate Over Cuts to Justice and ORF

Criticism of Cuts to Justice and Probation Services

In some cases, district courts amounted to "Geisterhäuser", MPs complained in the debate. Because of a missing district court, no one had yet left rural areas, it was said in a pointed comparison. The critics saw in this a failure of location and supply policy.

In the Foreign Affairs budget chapter, the budget grew by just under five million, bringing it to a good 2.4 billion. That money was being invested here was owed to the fact that the government wanted to make a contribution to a more peaceful world and to strengthen "unsere Werte", it was said from the plenary.

Dispute Over ORF and Public-Service Media

On the Media chapter, the SPÖ-affiliated speaker noted that any reform in the media sector was missed and that the ORF was being stripped of the input tax compensation of more than 90 million. The Freedom Party MP Lisa Schuch-Gubik said that privileges of public-service broadcasting persisted and that the "Bonzen" at the Küniglberg got off scot-free.

The government side countered that precisely in times of disinformation, strong media were needed: "Wir schützen trotz Sparzwangs den ORF." Strengthening the ORF as a component of democracy was an explicit concern, coalition representatives emphasized.

The Interior chapter likewise prompted sharp words. Interior Minister Gerhard Karner (ÖVP) counted it as a success that the budget for asylum and migration matters is set to fall by a total of more than 200 million to just under 420 million over the coming two years. The Greens mandate holder Agnes Sirkka Prammer explained her faction's "no" vote on the Interior Ministry's budget, among other things, with the fact that police officers were being denied their "fairer Lohn".

Sharp Words Over the Interior Ministry

Security spokesperson Gernot Darmann (FPÖ) identified a "Skandal" in the security budget. The cuts had been imposed on department head Karner "von einem kommunistischen Finanzminister", ran the accusation. The three-party coalition defended the budget plans with the reference that one should not "kaputtjammern" everything. The goal remained to replace departures in the executive on a 1:1 basis.

With this agenda item, the deliberations were not concluded in the evening. Today's session will run for some time, as the chapters on the Interior and Economy still follow, it was said from the National Council. Further controversial contributions are also expected there.

Overall, the first budget day revealed the political fault lines of the three-party coalition vis-à-vis the opposition and individual ministries: while there were sometimes heated disputes over Justice and the Interior, the first deliberations on the supreme organs and the Federal Chancellery were markedly more sober. The final budget decisions are expected in the coming sessions.