Geography & Statistics

Please click here for a full listing of the geography and statistics for the region.

History of the Region

Prior to the discovery of Australia and New Zealand by the Dutch in the early 1600’s, the Australian Aborigines and the Maori people in New Zealand existed as small tribe who did not do much trading among themselves, rather they took what they wanted by conquest. The Dutch where the first to explore the two countries, the most famous explorer being Abel Tasman whom the island of Tasmania is named after, did not find the area to be of any trading worth. Australia and New Zealand were thus left it open to the British, namely James Cook, who explored the area in 1768. The British, finding Australia to be rather barren and uninviting, decided to establish penal colonies there, and thus early Australian society was made up of convicts sent over from Britain. Trade was nearly nonexistent until the early 1800’s when whaling and sealing were becoming lucrative enough to export back to Britain, along with the growth of the wool trade which encouraged immigration to the continent. New Zealand was not colonized in earnest by the British until 1840, when a treaty was signed with the Maori people that allowed British sovereignty but gave the Maori equal rights as British citizens. There was some conflict between the Maori and the British in the late 1800’s, but for the most part the two cultures lived in peaceful coexistence. Meanwhile, the wool trade had grown extensively in both countries, and with the discovery of gold in Australia in 1851, even more trade was conducted between Britain and her colonies. The gold rush brought a huge influx of immigrants, and an economic boom that lasted until the 1880’s, when the subsequent economic drop forced the six territories in Australia to unify, and the province of Australia was ratified by the British parliament in 1901.

World War one changed the attitudes of both countries, as both sent hundreds of thousands of volunteers to fight with staggering losses, giving both a sense of national identity that translated into independence from Britain at the end of the war. The Great depression following the war lead to a sharp drop in trade from both nations, but close ties with Britain and the U.S. helped the countries to get through the crisis without permanent damage being done. World War two again found both countries sending troops to aid Britain in Europe, but both nations also greatly aided the U.S. in the war in the Pacific, as the threat of Japanese invasion was very strong. The war lead to the industrialization of both countries, and also lead to increased ties with the U.S., such that by the 1950’s the U.S. replaced Britain as the major trading partner with both Australia and New Zealand. Economic reforms in the 1970’s and 80’s lead to a modernization and globalization of both nation’s economies, and today they are two of the leading trading nations in the world. Australia and New Zealand both trade extensively with each other, but their other main trading partners are the U.S., Japan, Britain, South Korea, and other nearby Asian countries. Australia exports more than it imports (mainly machinery and transportation equipment), her main exports being metal ores, gold, other minerals, meat products, and textiles. New Zealand also imports mechanical and electrical machinery and fuels, and exports dairy products, meat, timber, and fish.

Politics

As one of the founding members of the United Nations, Australia is also the tenth largest fund contributor to the UN. Australia has also been heavily involved on the UN’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). It has played a vital part in the economic and social recommendations to the UN. 

Although involved in international relations, Australia’s political and economic schemes are, in a way, isolationist. It is essentially capitalist economy, but the reason Australia does not play a major part in the WTO or other trade treaty is the lack of demand for the available exports in Australia. More recently, though, there has been a move to the high tech sector in Australia which is slowly getting itself out of an isolationist, self-sufficient state.

New Zealand, previously dependent on the British imperialism, is now a parliamentary democracy. Its main growth in economic sectors has been in technology. As a growing country, New Zealand is a participating UN nation that promotes the ideals of peaceful development.

The Future and Beyond

Australia maintains a stable economic status as they employ services, agriculture and mining as their main industries, but they are adamant to become a worthy and competitive exporter and producer in the international community. In the 1980’s Australia transformed themselves from what was once an introverted, self-sufficient economy to an outward, international and exported-bound economy. To achieve this goal, they lowered tariffs, liberalized and loosened their financial services, improved their infrastructure, privatized much of their public sectors, and reformed their taxation policies. In order to become stabilized for the future, Australia also seeks to improve their manufacturing and technologies departments. The OECD classified Australia as one of the fastest growing economies ever since the large reforms in the 1980’s and they are projecting them to grow 2 to 3 percent in the next several years. As Australia made steady progress, they provided aid to their neighbor New Zealand and are currently engaged in close trade relations with New Zealand. Australia began to initiate free trade agreements and closer connections to the United States in 2003 and should be settled at conclusions in early 2004. Australia wants to form a high standard of bilateral trade and performance with the US and also hopes to involve themselves in more multilateral agreements in the future. 

New Zealand’s economy has been considerably healthy with steady growth of about 3% in the past several years. Based on exports from a successful system of agriculture, they have also made improvements through the use of liberalized tariffs and import regulations. In 1984, they experienced high inflation rates, but with stricter control over public spending and efforts to lower the government budget deficit, they were able to reduce their inflation in 1987. New Zealand's economy has been based on a foundation of exports from its very efficient agricultural system. In the 1990’s the government’s role in ownership of enterprises dissolved, leading to a more open perspective. Now, they are regarded as one of the most open economies in the world, with Australia at their side as their trading associate. New Zealand has grown with aid from Australia and they continue to practice friendly relations through their “Closer Economic Relations” (CER) that opens trade for services and goods. New Zealand fortunately has not limited their potential to Australia; in September 2000, they started a free trade agreement with Singapore and are currently trying to open more trade relations with other neighbors in the Pacific region. With the initiative to expand their audience and effective practices of economics, they are in a stable position in the Pacific. 

Did you know?

Australia is about the size of the continental United States.

92% of Australia's population is European.

Australia exports coal, gold, wool, meat, iron ore, wheat, alumina, aluminum, machinery and transport equipment.

Australia's aboriginal inhabitants, a hunting-gathering people generally referred to as Aborigines, arrived about 40,000 years ago.

About 4 million people live in New Zealand.

New Zealand has a huge livestock industry, and exports meats.