Vast majority back tax on assets, poll shows

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Politics

More than seven in ten are in support of the introduction of a tax on assets, a new study has found.Public opinion research agency Karmasin has found that 72 per cent of Austrians backed the possible new tax, while only 18 per cent rate the suggestion a “bad idea”.This result – revealed by a poll […]

Kennedy says Obama did ‘excellent job’ over oil spill

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Politics

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. claimed Barack Obama has done an “excellent job” in reacting to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.The environmental law expert said at a business event in Vienna last night (Weds): “I’m convinced Obama will succeed with his plans of stepping on new ground in energy and climate issues. He did an […]

Austria shamed by EU-wide pension age list

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Politics

Austria has made the top three in a humiliating European Union (EU) retirement age ranking.The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) figures presented today (Weds) reveal that Belgium and France were the only other EU member states with a comparably low average pensioning age as Austria where men retire on average at 59 and […]

‘Riches tax’ bid backed by 15,000

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Politics

Political leaders may feel the heat as a “tax on riches” petition by the Upper Austrian Social Democrats (SPÖ) found 15,000 supporters.SPÖ Upper Austria boss Josef Ackerl said today (Weds) the plan was to file a motion in the federal parliament in autumn.Ackerl explained more than 15,000 people have signed his party branch’s initiative since […]

AK boss warns government of upping car fuel tax

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Politics

Labour Chamber (AK) chief Herbert Tumpel has appealed to the government not to raise taxes on car fuel.”Higher petrol taxes are out of the question,” Tumpel said today (Weds).The AK boss further argued: “An increase of taxes on car fuel would burden those with little income and workers who need to use their cars to […]

Liste Burgenland performs spot landing

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Politics

Final results of last Sunday’s provincial election mean that the Burgenland parliament will feature five parties for the first time in history.Voting commission officials announced last night (Weds) that the counting of postal votes means that the Greens – who won 5.2 per cent in 2005 – managed to remain in parliament with 4.15 per […]

‘Green’ Austria red-faced over EU emissions study

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Politics

The Austrian government’s attempts to label Austria as an “eco-friendly country” with the know-how for “green technologies” of the future have suffered a throwback as Austria has been revealed as doing badly in reducing its emissions.The European Commission’s (EC) environmental experts announced today (Weds) there were 9.6 per cent more carbon dioxide emissions in Austria […]

Grosz says BZÖ will not team up with ´hashish LIF´

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Politics

The Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZÖ) head’s announcement he wanted to join forces with the Liberal Forum (LIF) has sparked surprise and opposition within the party.BZÖ chief Josef Bucher said yesterday (Thurs) he was waiting to hear back from LIF bosses after making an offer to team up. “I see a voting potential […]

Government ‘spends €600,000 on Habsburg website’

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Politics

The Austrian government has come under fire for allegedly spending more than half a million Euros on a website documenting the history of the Habsburg family.Austrian newspapers report today (Thurs) that the coalition of Social Democrats (SPÖ) and People’s Party (ÖVP) invested 600,000 Euros in the creation of the homepage www.habsburger.net which does not feature […]

Pröll says Austria ‘in full support’ of UN and EU in Iran issue

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Politics

People’s Party (ÖVP) Finance Minister Josef Pröll has stressed Austria was “in full support” of the United Nations’ (UN) and European Union’s (EU) strategy over possible sanctions against Iran as he arrived for a three-day visit in Israel yesterday (Weds).Pröll also said discussing strategies how to fight the effects of the economic crisis was the […]