KEY POINTS:
In business the divide between winners and losers is not drawn across national lines.
When it comes to making money there is no place for the rivalry and mock hatred that we love to invoke on occasions like tonight's Tri-Nations decider.
The world of economics, finance and business
is far too complex.
What is Australia to New Zealand business? It is myriad niche markets and consumer demographics. It is a land of opportunity and a land of risk. It can be our competition or it can be our ally. To some - who look to bigger markets further north - it may even be irrelevant.
Every business must look to define its own relationship with Australia, whether it be on the scale of a giant like Fonterra or the small manufacturer taking the first step outside of New Zealand.
So too when it comes to the issue of wider economic integration - tax, financial regulation, monetary policy and even currency union.
New Zealand should avoid a "one size fits all" approach. We should be seek to develop a model that best suits our strengths and weaknesses. The question of how much sovereignty New Zealand should concede in the pursuit of Australian wealth is one that has been with us since the 19th century.
And the answer to that question has always been in our own hands.
The Australians have never really cared enough to force the issue. They look north to bigger markets in Europe, the United States and Asia.
We know they will never change the way they do things in order to integrate with us. There will never be an Australasian dollar.
So, to some extent, we are free to define our own differences and similarities.
Of course in the cold, hard world of global financial markets there is no room for the subtleties of cultural difference we hold so dearly in NZ.
This was illustrated nicely on Thursday when, to the chagrin of the Sydney-based traders, the Aussie dollar dropped below US80c after Alan Bollard's 0.50 point rate cut.
Viewed from Singapore or New York we are already one region and - outside of our impact on commodity markets - not a particularly important one.
But we are different, geographically and culturally.
That's been highlighted this year by the extent to which a relatively small drought in NZ has helped to push our economy into a recession.
In Australia over the past decade much more severe drought conditions throughout New South Wales and Victoria hardly dented the country's mineral-powered GDP.
Australia's vast geographic spread means its Reserve Bank already struggles with a two-speed economy. Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia remain in boom mode while NSW and Victoria are in recession.
The weight of population power ensures the eastern states will be looked after when big economic decisions are made at a Federal level.
But it is highly unlikely New Zealand would be so lucky if it were subject to Australian monetary policy and found itself out of economic step.
There is another good economic reason for clinging to our sovereignty.
New Zealand's nation status has been invaluable in creating a unique brand for our exporters and our tourism industry.
The groovy, green, hobbit-loving, wine-making, reggae-playing, Polynesian-flavoured brand that we've peddled across the globe in the past decade is one that Australians struggle to understand. They tend to view us as little more than a politically correct Tasmania.
Actually by GDP we would rank fifth as an Australian state - after NSW, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland.
But in reality that's a position we are unlikely to claim - at least in the foreseeable future.
Our sovereignty is not in doubt. We should be secure enough in our strength as a nation to embrace closer economic ties with Australia and an increasingly integrated financial system.
Nationalism is a lot of fun when it is expressed on the sports field but it becomes a burden when is creates unnecessary regulatory differences and gets in the way of doing business.
As an exporting nation New Zealand has been at the forefront of the move towards a global economy. We are promoters of free trade. We have little to fear from Australia and much to gain.
In fact you could say we are the lucky country.
Liam Dann is the Herald's business editor
