henry tax reform, page-7

i believe that oil and gas resources in australian waters are already taxed at this premium rate..

from a reuters article in feb 2010

'The new resource tax replacing state royalties would be based on the petroleum resource rent tax levied on products, including crude oil and natural gas, mined in Australian waters and adding billions of dollars extra to government coffers.

"Any proposal that mining should be taxed at the same rate as oil and gas would represent a significant tax increase that would make Australian mining projects among the most highly taxed in the world and significantly impact on the competitiveness of Australian projects," Hooke said.'

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSSGE61F0JF20100217

so as i understand it for oil and gas producers in Australia its BAU... is this correct?

cheers
SuperTim