Gerhard Karner (born 13 November 1967 in Melk, Lower Austria) has been Federal Minister of the Interior of the Republic of Austria since 2021. In the last Parliamentary elections in 2024, he was confirmed as Minister of the Interior. He studied Business Administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Gerhard Karner served as mayor of his home village "Texing Tal" for six years. For about 18 years he was a member of the Lower Austrian Provincial Parliament (Landtag) from 2003 and served as the second president of Lower Austrian Provincial Parliament (from 2015 to 2021) before changing to the position of Federal Minister of the Interior.