The state parliament of Lower Austria met today at 1 p.m., chaired by President Mag. Karl Wilfing.
At the beginning, Matthias Zauner, Matthias Zauner’s state parliament, took place at the beginning, who was appointed to Mag. Jochen Danninger’s mandate freed by May 25th.
After the removal, a funeral minute followed after the killing spree in Graz. One of the deepest vibrations in the second republic, as Landtag President Karl Wilfing said. The killing spree hit the country in the middle of the heart in a place that must be a protected space in every respect. Pupils, students and a teacher were brutally torn from life.
The election of a member and a replacement member of the Federal Council then took place. Sebastian Stark was unanimously elected as a member of the Federal Council with 56 votes, Rene Lobner with 55 votes as a replacement member.
This was followed by a first one Current hour concerning “Sport as a sustainable health care – investments with long -term effects”.
MP Philipp Gerstenmayer (FP) presented the opinion of the applicants. In regular exercise, one of the greatest unused opportunities in the health system lies, it means prevention. In prevention, however, only two to three percent of the budget would flow, although each euro invested in exercise prevention brings up to three euros in the health system. In Lower Austria, movement policy is lived, according to the MP. The support of clubs or various cooperation projects in the youngest, e.g. projects such as swimming kids or the running Olympics, are the cornerstone of regular exercise. Older people would also benefit from regular movement, because they protect against loneliness and prevent the need for care. Movement must be a political principle. You have to anchor sports where people are: in schools, companies and communities. And you need a clear, political priority for the promotion of clubs.
MP Mag. Edith Kollermann (NEOS) said that more healthy years of life were a specific goal in health policy. Sport and exercise are the most effective and simplest means to significantly strengthen health. She spoke of alarming figures: in Austria every second adult is overweight, 25 percent in children and adolescents, a third of which is obese. A lack of movement is also a cause for the increasing chronic diseases and for many mental illnesses. With regular exercise, the risk of illness can be reduced, instead the health literacy in Austria is falling in Austria, stated the MP. As a country, for example, you can start school sports. The federal government’s “daily movement unit” project is a good example. Movement also promotes cognitive development in children, so it is a must in kindergartens and schools. It should not be saved at sports lessons that it should not fail because of bureaucratic hurdles or financial means. According to Kollermann, Sport also has an important role in identity finding and integration. Outside of school, there is also sport and movement that, like lifelong learning, these are the backbone of health care. For Kollermann, it would be time to create a symbiosis between clubs and school afternoon care and bring the clubs to schools. Just as there is a political responsibility for sport, said Kollermann, there is also a personal responsibility, everyone decides whether to take the lift, or the stairs, whether he goes on foot or get into the car.
MP Dominic Hörlezeder (Greens) said that the terrible act of violence in Graz shows what in truth really was and wished everyone affected a lot of strength in the difficult time. For Hörlezeder, sport is not just movement, he is the lifeline of society, he is joy, health, integration and the most important engine for cohesion in the country. But not everything was done to promote this potential in the country. The MP said that they are partly resting on the successes, while the children step on the spot, but children need movement for their health, for their development and for their future. According to Hörlezeder, the daily gymnastics unit will be pushed to the long bench, instead endless pilot projects would be implemented and half -hearted compromises are closed. The school is the springboard for talent, integration and for a healthy life, said the MP. The lack of exercise in old age is also a growing problem, there is no implementation of the sports strategy that programs in the communities, more support for clubs and more cooperation with the health insurance companies are missing. Hörlezeder emphasized that the over 30,000 volunteers are the heart of sport and ensure that the sport lives.
MP Mag. Dr. Rainer Spenger (SP) said that sport was the best and most efficient health care and that a lot happened in Lower Austria, but not all homework were done. He called the daily movement unit, which is still not implemented across the board, and infrastructure projects that would have to wait for their implementation. In an international comparison, Lower Austria has hinted at the sports facility infrastructure. As the third point, Spenger addressed the umbrella organizations whose services have increased in recent years, but the financial means for the associations would stagnate, although they contribute a lot to prophylaxis. For the MP, Sports is the service provider of the company, two million members are organized in 15,000 clubs and 200 sports, 24.1 billion euros in added value were licked, and sport is also a social anchor. If the number of people who were doing sports were increased by ten percent, it would bring a further 120 million euros a year to savings, Spenger listed. Finally, MP Spenger expressed the surviving and the families of the victims from Graz deepest sympathy.
MP Richard Punz, BA (FP), said at the beginning that sport was more than a leisure fun that he was a central pillar of health care. At a time when diseases of civilization such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and, above all, psychological stress increase, be it the duty of state politics to support health-promoting measures. According to Punz, sport plays an important role here and is a health engine. Sport strengthens the immune system, promotes mental health and improves the quality of life and savings in the long term also in healthcare. Punz continued in particular, Punz continued, but the sports strategy of the State of Lower Austria takes targeted measures to better anchor sport in society. For Punz, sports policy is health policy, social policy and also educational policy.
MP Bernhard Heinreichsberger, MA (VP) addressed condolences to the families, friends and acquaintances of the terrible disaster in Graz. Heinreichsberger said that the sport was often not directly associated with the health sector, but evolution has already emerged that movement was the principle of life. Sport is in the DNA of man, but the daily movement is becoming less and less due to many circumstances. According to the deputy, a fifth of all adults in Lower Austria would meet the recommended movement guidelines. Sport is a gift for the quality of life, but also an economic necessity, he saves costs for the health system. The physical inactivity alone cost 2.4 billion euros in Austria every year. Sport is not only medicine, but also social cohesion, integration and inclusion. He said that people come together in sports, children learn together, achieve goals and thus strengthen their own self -confidence. Seniors also find social connection in movement groups. The municipalities are regional local suppliers in sports, said the MP.
Another followed Current hour on the subject “The best future for our children! Childcare offensive of the Land & municipalities: Funding for 500th group decided. “
MP Silke Dammerer (VP) said that the Lower Austrian state kindergartens were a quality feature. The kindergarten is a place where the children could have fun and could play and where they would also learn to share, master conflicts and learn community and values. In the kindergartens, the children would not only be looked after, but also performed high -quality educational work and laid an important foundation for the further life. Around 750 million euros would take the country and the municipalities for the kindergarten offensive, by the end of 2027 600 new kindergarten groups and 250 new day care facilities were planned. In no other federal state, the childcare offer has been expanded so extensively in recent months in order to enable the best future for the children.
MP Mag. Indra Collini (NEOS) stated that if one talked about childcare today, the words would be missing due to the terrible occurrences in Graz. Children are the most important asset and that is why the care, the development of children and the opportunities that give them one of the most important tasks for society as a whole. Your faction very much welcomes that the childcare offensive is now being implemented. Lower Austria also had a lot to catch up in this area, the country is now on a very good way. The vision of the NEOS is a legal claim to a childcare place. A nationwide and affordable childcare is needed. In the kindergartens, the foundation for a successful integration, for the later career and the foundation for a self -determined life is laid. Equal opportunities also begin in kindergarten.
MP Mag. Georg Ecker, Ma (Greens), said that from the Green Group’s point of view, good childcare was very comprehensive. Good childcare is women’s policy, location policy, economic policy and education policy. Well -developed and supervised kindergartens are the foundation for the children’s educational path. The kindergarten is the most important educational institution that you have available. The Greens would welcome the fact that movement is now getting into the matter. The offer for the children must be nationwide and affordable. For the elementary school area, the Greens have the appeal not to close the eyes in this area either. Every euro is well invested in the education sector.
MP Mag. Kerstin Suchan-Mayr (SP) spoke of a good balance for a high-quality and affordable educational and care offer. Thanks to the SP, finite movement came into being after not much happened for 15 years. The improvements were long overdue. The free kindergarten in the afternoon is simply part of it, it is incomprehensible to distinguish here between education and care. A nationwide framework for elementary pedagogy, sustainable support for communities and a legal right to childcare.
MP Edith Mühlberghuber (FP) said that the country’s childcare offensive pursued the goal of a nationwide care offer for better reconciling family and work. However, the challenges should not be made small: many communities would reach their limits and, despite funding, have high expenses, it would be a permanent burden on the budgets. For a real freedom of choice of families, parental care at home must also be strengthened and the promotion of day parents has to be expanded.
MP René Lobner (VP) emphasized that reliable childcare was essential in order to be able to combine work and family. The blue-yellow childcare offensive is the largest family policy initiative in the country. Party politics lost nothing where to have the children. For the three to five year olds, 52.9 percent of the children were cared for in accordance with the VIF, 62.3 percent among those under three, which means an increase of over 30 percent. In the three- to six-year-olds Lower Austria is in first place over the Barcelona goal and in the federal state ranking.
(Forts.)