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The president of the Business Council of Australia, Greig Gailey, says he is not worried about the role unions will play under the new Labor government.
Kevin Rudd led the Australian Labor Party to an emphatic victory on Saturday night, turning a 16-seat deficit into a majority of about 22 seats, depending on the final outcomes in a handful of electorates.
Speaking on the ABC's Inside Business program, Mr Gailey said unions have an important role to play in society, and the business community will look to cooperate with them.
He said he is not worried that unions will play a disproportionate role in dictating business policy in Australia.
"If you listened to Kevin Rudd last night, that's not the impression you would have got," he said.
Mr Gailey said it will be important that the business community works to adapt to the shift in industrial relations policy under the ALP, particularly the abolition of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).
"I think business is capable of adapting to almost any climate quite frankly," he said.
He predicted the resources boom will continue for a number of years, and he hoped the Labor government will take advantage of conditions to plan for the future.
Mr Gailey said he feels optimistic about business policy under the new government, and added that his relations with Mr Rudd have been "unquestionably" more productive than his links with former Labor leader Mark Latham.
- RADIO AUSTRALIA
