Wrangle

Australia is considered the driest continent on earth apart from Antarctica. Most of Australia experiences an arid to semi-arid climatic range. New Zealand by contrast dominantly falls in the tropical wet climatic zone with a few areas receiving lower precipitation due to the rain shadow effect of the country's large mountains. Thus it is easy to believe minimal barren land exists in New Zealand. Australia on the other hand has a large scattering of barren land similar to the distribution of deserts in North America.