Haslauer was the curator of the Seebrunner Kreis
think tank and president of the Dr. Wilfried Haslauer Library, which was named after his father. He is a member of the
Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). The Salzburg ÖVP selected Haslauer as its leader in 2004. The
Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) gained control of Salzburg for the first time after winning the
2004 election. In 2004, Haslauer was elected Deputy Governor of Salzburg and retained the position in 2009. A financial scandal weakened the SPÖ before the
2013 election, which resulted in an ÖVP victory and Haslauer becoming governor despite the ÖVP receiving its lowest percentage of the vote in history. The ÖVP maintained its control after the
2018 election. After the
2023 election he formed a coalition with the
Freedom Party of Austria. In 2025, he announced that he was ending his political career.
Karoline Edtstadler, instead of Deputy Governor
Stefan Schnöll, was selected by Haslauer to be his successor. ==Honours==