Günther Platter

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Günther Platter 2017

Günther Platter (born June 7, 1954 in Zams , Tyrol ) is an Austrian politician ( ÖVP ) and since July 1, 2008 Governor of Tyrol.

Since 2018 he has headed the incumbent Tyrolean provincial government Platter III . From January 2007 until his election as Tyrolean governor, he was Minister of the Interior in the Gusenbauer cabinet . He belonged to the Schüssel II cabinet as defense minister and interim minister of the interior.

Professional career

After completing an apprenticeship as a printer at Tyrolia in Landeck and completing military service (1973-74), Günther Platter joined the Federal Gendarmerie in 1976 and subsequently served in Landeck and Imst (alpinism, criminal investigation, personnel, district sports warden).

Political career

Günther Platter, the then Austrian defense minister, Herwig van Staa , former governor of Tyrol and Luis Durnwalder , governor of South Tyrol pacing an honorary company of the Kufsteiner Schützen on August 15, 2004

Platter began his political career in 1986 as an ÖVP councilor in Zams. From April 1989 to November 2000 he was mayor of his home parish. After the National Council election in 1994 , he ended his career with the Federal Gendarmerie and on November 7, 1994 he entered the National Council as a member of the ÖVP . He was a member of the home and defense committee and from 1994 executive spokesman of the ÖVP, from 1999 its defense spokesman, delegate for WEU and NATO and member of the national defense council. On July 1, 2000 he became regional party chairman of the ÖVP Tirol. After becoming regional councilor for schools, sports, culture, employee development and citizenship in the Tyrolean regional government on November 9th, 2000 , he resigned his mandate on November 14th. On March 17, 2001, he was elected chairman of the Tyrolean regional organization of the workers' and salaried employees , of which he has been a member since February 13, 1979 (since 1994 in the regional executive committee). When Wendelin Weingartner (ÖVP) retired in 2002, after almost ten years as Tyrolean governor , Platter was considered a possible candidate for his successor, but was defeated by the then Innsbruck mayor, Herwig van Staa . After the National Council election in 2002 , Platter was appointed to the Austrian federal government for the first time. On June 23, 2008, Platter was nominated by the ÖVP Tirol as a candidate for governor for Tirol. Maria Fekter succeeded him as Minister of the Interior.

Activity as Minister of Defense

On 28 February 2003 Platter was as Minister of Defense in the government Bowl II , a coalition government between the ÖVP and FPÖ (later BZÖ ), sworn in . After Ernst Strasser's resignation, he temporarily took over the Ministry of the Interior from December 11 to December 22, 2004 , which meant that Platter was briefly responsible for both the armed forces and the police .

Platter's tenure as defense minister included the acquisition of Eurofighter fighter planes for the armed forces (see Eurofighter affair ), the commitment of Austrian armed forces to participate in EU intervention forces , the comprehensive army reform begun in 2004 and the shortening of the military service from eight to six months (entered into force on 1 January 2006 by ministerial ordinance).

Platter's use of a Saab 105 machine that was available to him as Minister of Defense for particularly urgent business trips sparked discussions. Platter used the Saab 105 in 2003, among other things, for a return flight from a holiday in Tyrol to an urgent request in parliament and for a trip from a performance by the Tyrolean Military Music to the laying of the wreath by the federal government on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the reestablishment of the Republic of Austria and a company visit.

Activity as Minister of the Interior

As a result of the 2006 National Council election , the ÖVP-BZÖ coalition was replaced by the government of Federal Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer , an SPÖ- ÖVP coalition. The new defense minister was Norbert Darabos (SPÖ). Platter moved to the Federal Ministry of the Interior as a minister .

In the government program, the two priorities of internal security and integration were named as the main tasks in the internal department . As Minister of the Interior, Platter continued the restrictive line taken by his predecessor Liese Prokop and was against a change of course on immigration. "No hardships" should be removed from the aliens' law criticized by human rights organizations , which was passed in 2005 by the ÖVP-BZÖ government with the votes of the FPÖ and a large part of the SPÖ MPs. In an interview with the Austrian daily Der Standard , Platter described the force-feeding of people in custody as “curative treatment” .

A further reduction of the military service imaginary community service from nine to six months and an adjustment to the duration of military service refused Platter, which resulted in a disagreement between the two coalition partners.

In the run-up to the European Football Championship in Austria and Switzerland in 2008 and due to riots in the domestic Bundesliga, Platter called for the preventive detention of potential hooligans . Known persons should be able to be detained before football matches in violation of the Austrian Federal Constitution and the Human Rights Convention , if only there is a possibility that they could commit criminal acts again. Platter's reasoning, according to which this was already practiced very successfully at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, was rejected by the German Interior Ministry as untrue. The coalition partner SPÖ as well as constitutional experts and human rights organizations rejected the proposal.

In an interview with the daily newspaper Kurier , Platter announced that he would also use so-called “government Trojans ” (see online searches ) in the fight against crime in order to gain access to the data of computer users.

Platter's statement that asylum seekers or lawyers and NGOs who represent them are to blame for the fact that asylum procedures in Austria often took several years was criticized by the organization SOS Mitmensch , which accused the minister of lacking “constitutional awareness” ; he was approved by the ÖVP and FPÖ defended. Platter had taken over structurally overloaded asylum authorities from his predecessors. As of February 28, 2007, a total of 14,604 proceedings had been pending for more than three years, while the law stipulates a period of six months. Platter announced that he would shorten the process with an asylum court . The relevant law, which provides for the establishment of the Asylum Court on July 1, 2008, provides that asylum seekers can no longer apply to the Administrative Court.

After hardship cases of Austrian aliens law became public - for example, the deportation of an 80-year-old Turkish woman by the Dornbirn aliens police was stopped by the constitutional court in July 2007 - the Human Rights Advisory Board in the Ministry of the Interior came to the conclusion in a report that the aliens law package was in parts not the European Convention on Human Rights and thus possibly violates human rights . Platter countered that the aliens' law was not in violation of human rights and that it was decided in 2005 by a parliamentary majority made up of the ÖVP, BZÖ, FPÖ and SPÖ. In an interview with the online youth magazine Chilli.cc in August 2008, Governor Günther Platter admitted that as Minister of the Interior he had been “incomprehensibly tough” in applying the law on aliens .

Activity as governor of Tyrol

The ÖVP moved with Governor Herwig van Staa as the top candidate in the state elections in Tyrol on June 8, 2008 . The ÖVP received 40.5 percent of the vote, 9.4 percentage points less than in the 2003 state election . Van Staa resigned from his position as governor on June 23. On the same day, the ÖVP nominated Platter as the candidate for governor, prevailing over the provincial councilors Elisabeth Zanon and Anna Hosp . With the state councilors Christian Switak , Bernhard Tilg , Patrizia Zoller-Frischauf and Beate Palfrader , Platter brought political newcomers into the state government, only Anton Steixner kept his seat.

During his first term in office, Platter was confronted with the consequences of the economic crisis in 2009 . In 2012, Tyrol and Salzburg had the lowest unemployment rate of 271 EU regions.

In the course of the nationwide parliamentary investigation committee set up in 2011 to clarify allegations of corruption , there were disputes about the alleged acceptance of gifts as well as opinions that hunting invitations to a governor had the smell of being fed . Financial state councilor Christian Switak resigned from the state government in February 2012 because of a discussion about the acceptance of gifts. In March 2013, it became known that the Corruption Prosecutor's Office had stopped investigating Switak.

In the Innsbruck municipal council elections in spring 2012, Platter supported the ÖVP and its candidate for mayor, Christoph Platzgummer , as regional party chairman ; there were conflicts with the winner of the runoff election Christine Oppitz-Plörer (also an ÖVP member).

On May 29, 2012, Platter hit the headlines when he visited the Austrian international David Alaba at the training camp in Seefeld and greeted Alaba with the words "How do you do?"

On June 20, 2012, Platter rescued an old woman from a completely smoky house in his hometown of Zams .

1 July 2012, took over Platter turn for half a year to chair the Governor's Conference . He made headlines across Austria again when he spoke out in favor of comprehensive school at the end of August 2012 and thus thwarted the attitude of the federal party.

In mid-January 2013, his internal party opponents Anna Hosp and Christine Oppitz-Plörer appeared together in a press conference and announced that they would support the new Vorwärts Tirol list in the state elections . The top candidate will be the former SPÖ regional councilor Hans Lindenberger . Platter then announced the expulsion of Hosp and Oppitz-Plörer from the ÖVP .

On April 6, 2013 Günther Platter was confirmed as regional party leader of the ÖVP Tirol with 98.13 percent at the 21st regional party conference of the ÖVP Tirol in the run-up to the state elections . Most opinion polls had forecast a significant loss of votes for the ÖVP, but in fact, at around one percent, these were surprisingly low. After exploratory talks with the parties represented in the state parliament, Platter spoke out in favor of a black-green coalition, with which the SPÖ Tyrol had to sit on the opposition benches for the first time since the state elections in 1945 . Platter was re-elected governor in the state parliament session on May 24, 2013, and the members of the new government coalition of the Platter II cabinet took office on that day.

After criticism in the media, Platter denied an authority failure in Tyrol due to numerous infected holidaymakers in March 2020 in the COVID-19 pandemic in Austria . Platter also said that the tourists had to exercise their own responsibility.

Eurofighter celebration in Langenlebarn

As part of the parliamentary committee of inquiry into Eurofighter procurement, the retired ministerial official in the Ministry of Finance Herbert Hillingrathner stated in spring 2007 that Platter, as defense minister, had participated in shooting games with air pistols at a celebration for the signing of the Eurofighter contract at Langenlebarn air base , in which, among other things, a photo of the then Finance Minister Karl-Heinz Grasser served as a goal. Platter, however, denied the claim and ruled out shooting at images of people.

Others

Platter has been married since 1978 and has two grown sons.

He is president of the Zams music band, where he was tenor horn player for 28 years ; Since March 18, 2001 he has been President of the Tyrolean National Costume Association, Chief Rifle Master of the Tyrolean State Rifle Federation and President of the Tyrolean Singing Association. Platter is also President of the Tyrolean Brass Music Association.

He is an honorary member of the Catholic secondary school association Amelungia Innsbruck (AMI) in the MKV .

honors and awards

Web links

Commons : Günther Platter  - Collection of Images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Von Drucker zum Landeshauptmann ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) , stol.it, November 24, 2009.
  2. ↑ ORF : "From Gendarme to Governor"
  3. ↑ Der Standard : Football Preventive Detention: Platter im Abseits , March 11, 2007
  4. ^ ORF : preventive detention unconstitutional
  5. ↑ ORF : Platter thinks about police Trojans , June 18, 2007
  6. ↑ ORF : SOS Mitmensch: "Simply lousy"
  7. ↑ National Council : Answer by Minister Platter to the written question regarding long-term asylum seekers , April 18, 2007
  8. ↑ https://derstandard.at/2945493/Hoechstgericht-stoppt-Ausweisung-einer-80-jaehrigen-Tuerkin
  9. ↑ Chilli.cc : "Was incomprehensibly hard" ( Memento of the original from December 23, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , August 26, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.chilli.cc
  10. ↑ Salzburg and Tyrol have top unemployment rates derstandard.at , July 4, 2012
  11. ↑ Platter: It wasn't a free hunt invitation, there were at least seven Markus Wilhelm , March 26, 2012
  12. ↑ Platter comes under pressure for invitations to hunt Die Presse , March 27, 2012
  13. ^ [1] Tiroler Tageszeitung , March 29, 2013
  14. ↑ Discussion about political divorce In: ORF online from May 18, 2012
  15. ↑ Alaba zu Platter: "You can talk to me in German" Die Presse , May 29, 2012
  16. ^ LH Platter saves the life of a pensioner: "Everyone would have done it" krone.at, June 21, 2012
  17. ↑ Governors ' Conference: Platter takes over the chairmanship. In: news.orf.at. June 28, 2012. Retrieved October 29, 2018 .
  18. ^ Comprehensive school: ÖGB stonewalls, ministers skeptical. In: tirol.orf.at. August 24, 2012, accessed November 14, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Platter threatens Vorwärts-Tirol supporters with VP expulsion , tt.com from March 19, 2013
  20. ↑ Kronen Zeitung : 98 percent for Platter at the Tyrolean VP state party conference online on April 6, 2012
  21. ↑ http://www.tt.com/Nachrichten/6626234-2/schwarz-gr%C3%BCne-regierung-in-tirol-nun-im-amt-wir-haben-neue-wege-iegen.csp
  22. ↑ Chronology of Failure sueddeutsche.de of March 20, 2020
  23. ↑ https://www.oe24.at/oesterreich/politik/Das-Protokoll-So-wurde-Grasser-zur-Zielscheibe/75569
  24. ↑ Platter denied ( memento from July 16, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) orf.at.
  25. ↑ List of all decorations awarded by the Federal President for services to the Republic of Austria from 1952 (PDF; 6.9 MB)
  26. ↑ High distinction for Governor Platter ( Memento from February 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), Wilten Abbey, July 8, 2010
personal data
SURNAME Platter, Günther
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian politician (ÖVP), member of the National Council
DATE OF BIRTH June 7, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Zams