text: We have audited the financial report of Mermaid Marine Australia Limited for the financial year 
  ended 30 June 2000 as set out on pages 18 to 43. The financial report includes the consolidated 
  financial statements of the consolidated entity comprising the company and the entities it 
  controlled at the year’s end or from time to time during the financial year. The company’s 
  directors are responsible for the financial report. We have conducted an independent audit of 
  the financial report in order to express an opinion on it to the members of the company. 
  
  S C O P E 
  
  Our audit has been conducted in accordance with Australian Auditing Standards to provide 
  reasonable assurance whether the financial report is free of material misstatement. Our 
  procedures included examination, on a test basis, of evidence supporting the amounts and other 
  disclosures in the financial report, and the evaluation of accounting policies and significant 
  accounting estimates. These procedures have been undertaken to form an opinion whether, in 
  all material respects, the financial report is presented fairly in accordance with Accounting 
  Standards issued in Australia and other mandatory professional reporting requirements and 
  statutory requirements so as to present a view which is consistent with our understanding of the 
  company’s and the consolidated entity’s financial position, and performance as represented by 
  the results of their operations and their cash flows. 