The head of government drummed up in front of around 2,000 supporters the content that had already been made available to the media in the past few days. In the preliminary program there were attacks primarily against the FPÖ, but also against the SPÖ.
- TV analysis by OÖN political leader Wolfgang Braun:
Nehammer wants to strengthen home ownership, for example. There are expected to be half a million more owners by 2030, which led to a standing ovation in the auditorium. He wants to create 800 new cash register positions during this period, reduce non-wage labor costs, stop the “regulatory madness”, abolish all taxes on overtime, and reward those who work full time with 1,000 euros.
- Photo series: Impressions from OÖN photographer Volker Weihbold
Picture gallery: Nehammer started the early election campaign with a speech in Wels
(Photo: VOLKER WEIHBOLD) Bild 1/44
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Road construction as a focus
Nehammer wants to combine ecology with economics. Road construction should not be neglected. Because the cars with new technologies have to drive somewhere. Another focus is security – from increased defense budgets to the fight against terrorism. Social benefits for immigrants should only be available after five years and the Chancellor also made it clear what he expected from them: “In my understanding, integration is adaptation.”
The ÖVP leader emphasized the importance of this year in his introductory words: “This year 2024 is the year of decision.” He stands for creation and therefore against those who stand for destruction.
Kickl as a big topic – with videos
This was probably addressed to FPÖ chairman Herbert Kickl, whose party was the target of attacks in the preliminary program, especially from general secretary Christian Stocker and club boss August Wöginger. Stocker even called the Freedom Party leader a failure. Videos were also played that included Kickl’s earlier plea for lockdowns during the Corona period.
More on the topic: What’s in Nehammer’s “Austria Plan” Kotankos Corner: The Welser Way: How the ÖVP wants to find its way out of its trough of misery (OÖNplus)
- Video: Roland Adrowitzer (ORF) on the Nehammer speech
The criticism of SPÖ leader Andreas Babler was also illustrated by his claim that he was a Marxist. The climate glue finally got its fat, which was taken care of by Youth State Secretary Claudia Plakolm: “This senseless sticking has to come to an end.”
Rejection of “bitter agitators”
A large part of the black government team and almost all state governors from the ranks of the ÖVP, as well as party celebrities from the past, came to the Wels trade fair: from ex-party leader Josef Pröll to the ex-presidential candidates Andreas Khol and Benita Ferrero-Waldner to the Former state governors Erwin Pröll, Josef Pühringer and Waltraud Klasnic.
At the start, Upper Austria’s Governor Thomas Stelzer welcomed the guests, praised Nehammer as a statesman and implementer and expressed a rejection of “unrealistic little dreamers with weaknesses in implementation” as well as “bitter agitators”. “That’s why you are the Federal Chancellor,” said Stelzer, “and there shouldn’t be anyone else.”
