Len Brown will be good for business, union says

Comments that the political shape of the new Auckland council has not turned out as expected by the business interests that promoted the city's amalgamation are far off the mark, the Employers and Manufacturers Association (EMA) says.

Left-leaning candidate Len Brown was voted in as mayor of the new super city at the weekend by a comfortable margin over Auckland mayor and National Party supporter John Banks.

Political commentators including Matt McCarten and Brian Rudman have said that the election results were a clear victory for the left, even though in Rudman's word "the corporate elite were supposed to be the political masters of this engine room of the New Zealand economy."

But EMA chief executive Alasdair Thomson said it was not the case that the results of the vote in Auckland could be construed as bad for business.

"Throughout the election campaign Mr Brown made very clear that Auckland's development and growth is vital.

"His record with the Manukau council hitherto strongly recognised and supported the importance of business.

The same was true for most of the councillors, he said.

"Perhaps only two or three of the 21 members of the new Auckland Council can be said to have trenchant anti-business views.

"Auckland's business welcomes the new era for enhanced productivity and development that the new council will most certainly usher in."

Speaking to NZPA at the official opening of Eden Park yesterday, Mr Brown said he would be keeping a close eye on infrastructure leading up to the Rugby World Cup."He said he would be having discussions with other councillors in the days ahead to make sure the new super city council gets off to a great start.

"My total focus is uniting Auckland. I have a strong value of inclusiveness so I'm reaching out to all of our communities, and in particular, settling people's nerves about the change," he said.

Mr Brown added he was also looking forward to continuing his strong working relationship with Prime Minister John Key, who passed on his congratulations to Mr Brown.

"He ran a great campaign and now he's got the hard work in front of him which is to get all the pieces of Auckland and make it a world class city," Mr Key said.

"We always take Auckland seriously. It's home to a third of the population, and a third of the economic growth of the country.

"The reason we actually re-formed Auckland was because we believed there was much greater potential."

Mr Key said the government was very committed to rail in reply to Mr Brown's push for rapid transport.

"We've considered double tracking the western line, electrification and also buying new rolling stock."What happens beyond there is something we need to have a discussion about, and ultimately one of the questions will be who will pay for it and how much will it cost?," Mr Key said.