Top Earners in the National Council Unevenly Distributed

The majority of top earners among the National Council members sit in the ranks of the FPÖ. Seven blue deputies earn more than 12,000 euros per month in addition to their state salary, as income data published by the National Council shows. In the ÖVP, four deputies reported income in the highest category, in NEOS and the Greens three each, and in the SPÖ two. In total, the 183 deputies of the newly elected National Council in autumn hold 266 paid side jobs.

FPÖ Deputies in the Lead

FPÖ deputies are also the leaders here with an average of 1.9 side jobs per person, followed by ÖVP deputies with an average of 1.7 paid side jobs. In contrast, less than half of the Greens have a paid job on the side on average. However, the side activities are not evenly distributed. Thus, 45 deputies have no paid side job at all, while 74 deputies find time for more than one side job: Leading, as in the previous year, is Axel Kassegger (FPÖ) with a total of 9 paid extra-parliamentary functions, followed by Andreas Minnich (ÖVP) with 8.

The deadline for the mandatory reporting of the amount of income from these side jobs for the year 2024 expired on Monday. Deputies classify themselves into one of five income categories. Among the 19 deputies who fall into the highest income category with their side incomes, freelancers and managers are in the majority. For example, this includes notaries Harald Stefan and Volker Reifenberger, lawyer Christian Ragger, and pharmacist Gerhard Kaniak (all FPÖ), as well as entrepreneurs or managers Maximilian Weinzierl, Arnold Schiefer (both FPÖ), Karin Doppelbauer and Veit Dengler (both NEOS), and banker Christoph Pramhofer (NEOS).

Officials Also Among Top Earners

The other top earners are officials such as the freedom club director Norbert Nemeth (FPÖ), Economic Association Secretary General Kurt Egger, the Cooperative Association Chairman and entrepreneur Peter Haubner (both ÖVP), as well as the unionists Barbara Teiber and Franz Jantscher as the only Reds among the top earners.

Election year-related special cases include former ministers Karoline Edtstadler, Susanne Raab (both ÖVP), Leonore Gewessler, and Alma Zadic, as well as former Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (all Green Party), who temporarily received the ministerial salary instead of the National Council mandate salary during the government formation and therefore fall into the highest income category. Due to the reconstitution of the National Council in October, the transparency report for 2024 for the newly elected members only covers the months of November and December. If the former government members are excluded, the proportion of women among the top earners drops significantly. Only two women then face 12 men with top earnings.

Other Income Categories

The second income category also includes 19 members, meaning they earn, in addition to the parliamentary salary of 10,350 euros, an additional 8,001 to 12,000 euros gross monthly: four of them come from the FPÖ club, six from the ÖVP, eight from the SPÖ, and one from the NEOS club. However, the majority of additional earnings in parliament fall into the middle income category 3 (4,001 to 8,000 euros). At least 41 members have reported no additional income. This includes National Council President Walter Rosenkranz (FPÖ) as well as the club chairpersons, who receive higher salaries and are therefore subject to a professional ban.

Proportionally, the most members without additional income sit in the Green Party club, where half have no paid side job. Apart from the then-still-government members, no Green Party member falls into the top three income categories.

15 National Council Members are Mayors

More than a third of the National Council members are active in municipal politics - namely 62. 15 of them also serve as mayors. The members are also very active in volunteer work: a total of 879 unpaid side activities were reported for 2024. The most engaged were the ÖVP club, from which 329 volunteer functions were reported, followed by the FPÖ club with 242, and the SPÖ with 240. Here, some members hold an above-average number of functions. Leading the way is ÖVP member Elisabeth Scheucher-Pichler, who alone holds 18 volunteer positions.

(APA/Red)

This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.