Yes and no; I don't think you should be despairing. NZ *is* well known for releasing another wave of award seats much closer to departure, if there are still plenty of unsold seats, however they do also release award inventory around 330 days out.

I think for a flight like LAX-RAR the typical pattern is that they release 2 "I" seats (business redemption fare code) at 330 days out, which generally get snapped up very quickly, and from then on nothing until probably within a month of travel. A quick scan of that route on expertflyer shows lots of availability through March and into April (e.g. 7 business award seats for travel next Sunday, 2 seats for the week after that, 8 seats the week after that, etc) then availability dries right up. There's also 1 seat available for January 16th 2011 (just inside the 330 day window).

Provided you don't mind paying 1 or 2 change fees (the cost of grabbing I seats as they become available), I think you have an excellent chance of getting your NZ sectors in business class. It's the nonstop US to Auckland flights that are so incredibly hard to get in I, as they have the new flatbed product, whereas the flights via the South Pacific have older style cradle recliner seats, so demand is often lower.

Good luck