"They saw [globalism] as something to be resisted. My personal view is that [Trump's] particular brand of negative populism of America first, and a view that protectionism works, is deeply flawed. It is not my world view." It was not the attitude that had underpinned Tauranga's success, he added.
New Zealand had been tracking extraordinarily well, relative to the trajectory of other countries, said Mr Muller. Some 350,000 jobs had been created since the global financial crisis, and Treasury predicted another 150,000 more jobs would be created over the next three years. Unemployment was at 4.9 per cent and is expected to drop to 4.7 per cent.
"We are one of the few countries in the OECD that has balanced our books. We had a budget surplus last year and we're on track for another surplus."
New Zealanders had always been world class at identifying opportunities in the global environment, he said.
"Globalisation is not going to stop. If you're business person you understand that change is your constant. Change is what you have to deal with, and having a protectionist view distracts you from the main prize.
"There are billions of consumers who want to be able to spend on ideas and products and services that touch them and meet their needs. My challenge with respect to Tauranga and its growth and how we expect it to unfold, is that we have to embrace the change."
Commenting on housing in Tauranga, Mr Muller noted there had been 1700 new consents for houses to be built in the past 12 months, the second highest behind Auckland. Tauranga - which has added some 4000 people in the past two years - was likely to become significantly larger, and the community had to consider "going up, not growing out", he said.
"We like our space, we know how awesome it is here," he said.
"But we have a sense this is going to be a quite extraordinarily large city in our lifetime. If we don't as a community embrace how we want that growth to look, we are going to end up like a mini-Auckland, sprawled from Katikati to Paengaroa. As a community we need to be very proactive in expressing our view at how we want our communities to grow and evolve."
Mr Muller also strongly supported the recent takeover of Western Bay of Plenty Housing New Zealand stock by Accessible Housing.
"The issue isn't who owns housing stock, the issue is, can we have more houses that are being built for delivery in this community? Accessible Housing have a fantastic track record of taking older housing stock and turning it into newer, more effective and better designed houses."
On transportation and the congestion that has begun to emerge on major arterial routes, he noted the millions of dollars committed to the Tauranga Eastern Link and earmarked for northern route developments and improvements.
"My core point is, with the growth this city is experiencing, just hoping we can invest in roads and can all hope to be in our cars at peak time is not going to happen," he said.
"We need to look at our public transport. The council is doing [good work] in this space. I just want to encourage that, and think we could do a whole lot more, particularly in buses."
Recently appointed Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt also spoke at the meeting, which was attended by about 80 people.
Brought up in Tauranga, he relocated from Auckland to take up the new role and said he well understood why the city was attracting incomers.
But they weren't just being driven out by rising house prices and transport issues, he said.
"What's changed recently is the [improving] job prospects here, which makes the Western Bay a much more attractive option."
People could now see longer-term career options in the region, not just a new job.
Mr Tutt described the local business community as uniquely collaborative and supportive, not just of Priority One - which is unusual in being a economic development agency founded by business rather than council controlled - but of each other. He also praised the high level of innovation by local companies.
Priority One had been very successful in attracting business and people to the Western Bay, he said.
"But we can't rest on our laurels of saying we've grown really well over the last two years. I don't think that's compelling enough. We can't look at what we've done in the past. We need to say, this is what the city is doing, this is how see the future, and this is why you should join us. That way we will get more of the right types of business and the right people."
Business Network Breakfast
-The Business Connect breakfast was co-organised by the Welcome Bay Community Centre with the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce's Small Business Tauranga group.
