Tomac defends partner’s new police post
Monday 24th August 2026 on 16:00 in
Austria
Tyrol’s state police director, Helmut Tomac, has rejected the controversy over the police appointment of state councillor Astrid Mair, according to ORF Tirol. Mair, 44, will start a new job with the immigration police on September 1.
Tomac described the appointment as a personnel measure that he and the police directorate’s management had discussed several times with the head of human resources. Mair, who is also Tomac’s partner, had held a senior position as district police commander in Kufstein.
Tomac said that people who enter politics can be released from their previous duties, which was what happened in Mair’s case. A young colleague in Kufstein was permanently assigned to her former position with Mair’s consent. The police are legally required to keep an equivalent position available in return.
Her new role as deputy head of the immigration police offered no advantage in rank, salary or hierarchy, Tomac said. With a difference of perhaps 400 euros in gross basic pay, there could be no talk of patronage. In hierarchical terms, the deputy position was instead a step backwards, he said.
Tomac also criticised media reports about the appointment. He said it was incorrect that the head of the immigration police department would retire in 2027; this could happen in 2028 or as late as 2030. He also rejected speculation that the head of the immigration and border police department could use the role as a springboard to become state police director. No state police director in Austria had come from that department, he said.
“To speculate about this and create this political uproar is, I believe, fairly concerning,” Tomac said.
Mair declined an interview on Monday but said she had informed the ÖVP leadership and Tyrol Governor Anton Mattle weeks ago about her job change. Mattle confirmed this during an ORF Tirol interview. Mair said reports published recently were partly inaccurate and that her move did not constitute political patronage.
Reinhold Siess, head of the Tyrol police union, said the decision involved a qualified candidate. The union would neither want nor participate in the political debate, he said.