By 1978, when a long-simmering policy conflict within the Austrian ÖSU developed towards a split in the party, Molterer supported liberal positions which sometimes were quite grossly at odds with the more conservative mainstream opinion of the ÖSU's main sponsor, the Austrian People's Party.
In 1978, when the ÖSU party was experiencing internal strife and teetering on the brink of a split, Molterer championed liberal perspectives that sometimes diverged from the more traditional conservative stance of the ÖSU's primary supporter, the Austrian People's Party.