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, with NEOS and the Greens each having three, and 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: At the top, as in the previous year, is Axel Kassegger (FPÖ) with a total of 9 paid extracurricular 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. Here you will find, for example, the notaries Harald Stefan and Volker Reifenberger, the lawyer Christian Ragger and the pharmacist Gerhard Kaniak (all FPÖ) as well as the entrepreneurs or managers Maximilian Weinzierl, Arnold Schiefer (both FPÖ), Karin Doppelbauer and Veit Dengler (both NEOS) as well as the banker Christoph Pramhofer (NEOS).

Officials Also Among Top Earners

The other top earners are officials such as the Freedom Party 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 trade unionists Barbara Teiber and Franz Jantscher as the only Reds among the top earners.

Election year-related special cases are the former ministers Karoline Edtstadler, Susanne Raab (both ÖVP), Leonore Gewessler and Alma Zadic as well as former Vice Chancellor Werner Kogler (all Greens), who temporarily received the ministerial salary instead of the National Council deputy 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 deputies only refers to 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

In the second income category, there are also 19 representatives, meaning they earn an additional 8,001 to 12,000 euros gross monthly on top of the parliamentary salary of 10,350 euros: four of them are 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). A total of 41 representatives 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 subject to a professional ban.

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

15 National Council Representatives are Mayors

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

Criticism from ÖVP and SPÖ

The fact that most top earners sit in the Freedom Party club was used by the ÖVP and SPÖ on Tuesday to criticize the party. "The FPÖ is the most expensive opposition of all time," countered ÖVP General Secretary Nico Marchetti in response to corresponding blue accusations about government spending. "For a party whose business model is to spark envy debates and present itself as the voice of the common man and against the 'system', the question of credibility is certainly justified," said Marchetti. SPÖ Federal Manager Klaus Seltenheim offered similar criticism: "The report on the side jobs of National Council representatives clearly shows the hypocrisy of the blue group: The Blues are not concerned with the welfare of the population, but solely with their own privileges."

The FPÖ rejected the criticism and, in turn, accused the ÖVP of cronyism and mismanagement with high consequential costs.

(APA/Red)

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