Australian Dollar in Shock Freefall

The Australian dollar has fallen sharply on foreign exchange markets, shocking local analysts and banks that until recent days had been predicting the currency would hit par with the U.S. dollar.

Trading at around .93 cents to the U.S. dollar just weeks ago, the Australian currency has fallen more than 10% to levels of around .81 cents. The Aussie has fallen several cents just this week.

The currency has been in freefall since the Government announced a 40% super tax on the country's resources companies. The mining industry is the largest in Australia.

In late afternoon New York trading Thursday, the Australian dollar was quoted at .8325, well above earlier lows of below .8200.