Geoff Ashton appointed Chairman of Leighton Holdings

Issue Date:  25 March 2004
Issued By:  Leighton Holdings Limited

Company Announcements Office
The Australian Stock Exchange Limited
Level 4
20 Bridge Street
Sydney NSW 2000

Re: Geoff Ashton appointed Chairman of Leighton Holdings

Dear Sir,

Please find attached a copy of a media release to be issued today by Leighton Holdings Limited.

Yours sincerely,


A.J. MOIR
Company Secretary

Geoff Ashton appointed Chairman of Leighton Holdings

Issue Date: 25 March 2004
Issued by: Leighton Holdings Limited

The Directors of Leighton Holdings Limited are pleased to announce that Mr Geoff Ashton had today been appointed as Chairman of the company. The board also accepted Mr John Morschel’s resignation following the announcement, in December 2003, of his intention to leave the board.

Mr Ashton has been an Independent Non-executive Director on the Board since 1996. He has a great knowledge of the construction industry and has the full support of the board and management to lead the company through the next stage of its development.

The Board wishes to thank Mr Morschel for his contribution since his appointment to the Board in April 2001. Mr Morschel has steered the company through a period of growth and leaves the company with a record order book of $12.5 billion as at 31 December 2003.

Mr Ashton is Chairman of the Superannuation Trust of Australia, a Director of the NSW State Transit Authority and former Managing Director of Clyde Industries Limited and Monier Limited. He is also a past National President of the Australian Industry Group. During his time as a Director of Leighton Holdings Limited, Mr Ashton has served on a number of committee’s including the Ethics Committee, the Nomination Committee and Special Tender Review Committees.

The Directors also are pleased to announce that Dr Herbert Lütkestratkötter has been appointed to the Board as an alternate Director for Dr Peter Noé. Dr Lütkestratkötter is a member of the Executive Board of HOCHTIEF Aktiengesellschaft with responsibility for Facility Management including project development, public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the infrastructure field, and for asset management.

He has had wide-ranging experience in the industry, having served for over 20 years with the engineering company Lahmeyer International and more recently he held senior positions in the international business of Philipp Holzmann AG and the Dussmann Group.

Issued by:
Leighton Holdings Limited
A.C.N. 004 482 982  A.B.N. 57 004 482 982
www.leighton.com.au

For further information:
MR ASHELY MOIR
Company Secretary
Ph: (02) 9925 6078

MR JUSTIN GROGAN
Manager, Investor and Media Relations
Ph: (02) 9925 6628