The SPÖ accuses the turquoise-green federal government of excessive spending on advertisements, advertising and information campaigns. Deputy club boss Philip Kucher added up the answers to his series of inquiries to all departments that totaled around 73 million euros in the previous year. Taxpayers had to spend around 200,000 euros a day on advertising and PR for the government.
Image: APA
Compared to the 73.03 million euros in 2020, the Kurz / Strache cabinet only spent 44.81 million euros in its last full year in 2018. In 2017, still under SPÖ Chancellor Christian Kern, the red-black government only used around 27 million euros for advertising and PR. According to the SPÖ, the highest expenditures in the corona year 2020 were accounted for by the Federal Chancellery at 27.73 million euros. In 2018 it had only spent 5.6 million euros.
Compared to the APA, Kucher reminded the government of the 210 million euros estimated by the government for self-promotion and PR by 2024. “Especially in the Corona crisis, where hundreds of thousands of people are currently worried about their jobs, it cannot be that money does not seem to play a role in the turquoise system,” he emphasized. It is disappointing that this has got worse with Green government participation. “It is now the year of the most expensive government advertising ever,” he commented.
