ABSTRACT
This chapter explores New Zealand and Australia has quite distinct colonial origins and class structures. The New Zealand wealth data comes from the work of Graeme Hunt and originated in his work on the National Business Review's rich lists. The British government national archives suggest that in the 80 years in which transportation took place, 158,702 convicts arrived in Australia from England and Ireland and 1,321 from elsewhere, making a total of 160,023 men and women starting a new life in the colonies. At the start the convicts, settlers and military found themselves in a colony. The non-pastoral and pastoral industries, plus the revenue from land sales to pastoralists, attracted and provided the profit basis for growth in manufacture, commerce, public services and house building. An unusual feature of the patterns of production was the demand for public services from the military and the convict guards and for the infrastructure for business including railways, roads, houses, shops and offices.
