Backbencher

New Zealand's economy, like any nation that is not self sufficient, (are there any?) has relied heavily on exports to bring new money into local commerce. Whaling & sealing, flax, pine, and gold were all mentioned briefly. Sheep and cattle ranching seem to be the new staple, and have been that for a good long while. (Ignoring the hiatus due to the rabbit crises, of course!) I suspect tourism might be significant, too. The next major point I see in my notes involved that from the outset as a planned colony, government involvement remained significant, to the point that I would consider the country to be largely socialistic. (Not communist, that is different.) This is a quality that, for better or worse, persisted up until fairly recently. The loss of England as a primary market for New Zealand products hit the government fairly hard, and it teetered on the edge of fiscal insolvency. I'm not too sure which side of the edge of insolvency it might have been on- but the time for drastic action was at hand, and under the guidance of Roger Douglas, the fiscal responsibilities of the nation did a remarkable about face toward what we Americans would call the right. "The Great Transition" to free market happened, albeit painfully, via subsidies that were largely if not completely stopped, government assets were sold and privatized including the national railroad, irrigation works, etcetera and may even eventually come to include the national archives. They seem to have been able to make it work.

Tom Isern teaches us that NZ began exporting lamb by mechanically refridgerated shipping starting in the year 1882. Now THAT surprises me, I even argued with him after class a bit- I was not aware of any refridgeration method other than packing with cut block ice that early. A bit of research- lo and behold, Tom again wins out, there is a company in Germany that has been manufacturing mechanical refridgeration units continiously since the company's inception in... get this... 1882.
Coincidence?

Australia is a bit different- hindered by its own bulk, lack of raw materials, limited access to water over a large percentage of its area, much of its economy is pinned on the same staples as New Zealand... but can never be developed to the same percentage of extent due to the logistics of its vast inhospitable inner reaches. Wheat farming , ranching with both sheep and cattle (largely leased land), semi precious gem stones, open pit mining for metallic ores, again largely extractive and for export with a minimal home market. Potential for heavy manufacture limited due to a lack of readily available local carbon based fuels. Tom mentions a list of transitional periods, but these (mostly traditional) exports seem to STILL make up the bulk of export items extruded by the Australian economy.