Thank goodness the Australian one day cricket team carved up the New Zealanders with a 3-0 whitewash of the black caps.

Otherwise in this most active of all our international rivalries, I'd have been left on foreign ground with nothing ... stranded without a patronising paddle to poke at our trans-Tasman cousins.

Because if I'd started on our respective economies, I'd have lost.

In the week our school children slipped down the global ratings and our economy recorded a rare decline, the New Zealanders could quickly point to a budget surplus with more to come.

And if I had talked leadership, that too could have become messy. Because as it stands, there has been just one change of government so far this century and two prime ministers here in New Zealand.

In the same period we have endured the revolving door from Howard to Rudd to Gillard to Rudd to Abbott to Turnbull. And as it stands, our current leader is not exactly on rock-solid ground.

Malcolm Turnbull's good friend, the outgoing New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, not only stepped down at a time of his choosing, he did it after eight years in office where his popularity actually climbed.

And at the same time, he managed to make hard decisions such as selling off state-owned companies, raising the GST and cutting tariffs.

So why the difference?

The obvious answer is the economy.

Revenue from the sales of state assets was reinvested in a deregulated market which saw investment and exports climb.

There was luck too as the New Zealand economy could readily supply the increasingly wealthy Asian nations with their demand for protein in the form of meat and dairy products.

But another important element was the stability and continuity that static political environment creates.

"Business likes certainty and it means they can invest and hire with confidence and we've seen that a great deal, whereas with Australia, we've seen a great deal more volatility politically so that makes it harder for businesses in Australia to plan," says John Ballingall from the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research.

There is no doubt there would be little appetite in New Zealand for an Australian-style senate to complicate straight line rule.

That's not to say New Zealand's mixed member proportional electoral system is without its challenges.

A mood of cooperation not seen in Australia

The stable political climate in New Zealand has only improved the country's booming tourism industry. ( ABC News: Matthew Roberts )

But there seems to be something else going on and it wouldn't wash in modern Australian politics.

Yes, there are adversarial debates, and some personal attacks, but by and large the mood appears to be one of cooperation and trying to get the best deal for the nation, despite political colours.

The recently installed Labour Mayor of Wellington Justin Lester told me: "We've got a Government and an Opposition but they get on outside the Parliament and generally people want what's best for New Zealand."

Imagine that.

That's not to say Labour and National MPs are skipping through silver ferns holding hands, but they seem to be able to see each others' point of view and act accordingly.

New Zealand Health Minister Dr Jonathan Coleman says the economic settings won't change when Bill English takes over the leadership on Monday.

"We've got a set of government books and economic prospects that very few countries in the OECD can match and you know even though John Key is going, we're going to continue with that," he says.

That continuity gives certainty to the many companies with thriving exports who don't want to see sudden changes that could affect their hard-won markets or create volatility with the all important exchange rate.

Sense of political contentment in NZ

Pete Monk is the business manager at Ata Rangi wines in the beautiful Martinborough region an hour or so outside Wellington.

He says building their exports to more than 30 countries has meant painstaking work over many years.

Political stability with consistent messages has been vital to that success. And there is a spin-off benefit as the wines attract more overseas visitors to the cellar door.

"Tourism is a major contributor to New Zealand," he says, "and it's a big chunk of the surpluses that are now being protected into the future."

After the years of political wars in Australia, it's strange being in a nation with such a settled and confident sense of itself.

And in a place where people confidently expect their lives will improve, that the economy will continue to grow.

As I wandered around a vegetable market in a Wellington suburb, I tried to engage people on the imminent change of prime minister, the economy, the overall state of the nation.

There were discussions, but no-one was grumbling. No diatribe about lazy, dishonest politicians or journalists for that matter. People seemed pretty content.

There are divisive issues such as the rising cost of housing and the not-unrelated lift in homelessness.

But talk politics or economics and most people seem distracted.

The only thing that literally had people rattled was the recent earthquake that damaged a number of buildings in the capital.

And while we can trust the ground on which we stand, there seems no end to the political shifts and shakes in Canberra. And in stark contrast to our NZ cousins, that's what makes us less than relaxed and comfortable.

Watch Philip Williams' special report on ABC News tonight at 7:00pm.