MELBOURNE (Standard&Poor's) March 25, 2009--Standard&Poor's Ratings Services today said that its ratings on the Commonwealth of Australia (AAA/Stable/A-1+) and the country's state governments are not affected by the federal government's announcement regarding a time-limited, voluntary guarantee over state government borrowing for both existing and new issuances of securities. "The rating impact on any specific state-issued securities that benefit from the guarantee would be assessed at the time, based on our guarantee criteria," Standard&Poor's credit analyst Anthony Flintoff said. The credit qualities of the Australian states are strong, and among the highest for state governments in the world. The rating outlook is currently stable for six of the seven rated states, indicating that Standard&
