Leon Davis AO - Business Patron

Leon Davis AO is the Chairman of the Westpac Banking Corporation, an appointment he took up in December 2000 after serving as Director for one year.

He has many years’ experience in mining, both in Australia and overseas, and became Chief Executive of Rio Tinto Ltd and Rio Tinto Plc in January 1997.

Following the dual listed companies merger of The RTZ Corporation Plc and CRA Ltd (later changed to Rio Tinto Ltd and Rio Tinto Plc) in late December 1995, he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Operating Officer. In April 2000 he retired as Chief Executive of Rio Tinto and now serves as Deputy Chairman.

Mr Davis joined the CRA Group in 1956 as a metallurgical cadet with the Broken Hill Associated Smelters, Port Pirie, South Australia and has held senior management positions in various parts of the Group. He was appointed Managing Director of Pacific Coal in 1984 and held positions with Bougainville Copper Mining in Papua New Guinea and with Conzinc Asia in Singapore. During this time he was a member of the Australian Coal Marketing and Technology Council, Chairman of the Promotions Committee of the World Coal Institute, and an Australian representative on the Coal Industry Advisory Board of the International Energy Agency of the OECD.

In 1989 he was appointed as Group Executive of CRA Ltd. Until joining RTZ in 1991 as Mining Director, his appointments included Chairman of Argyle Diamond Mines, Dampier Salt, Wimmera Industrial Minerals and Kalimantan Gold. He was also a Director of CRA Services Ltd and Kelian Gold, Indonesia.

He is currently a Fellow of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a Director of Huysmans Pty Ltd, Codan Pty Ltd and Trouin Pty Ltd. He also serves as a board member of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and as a Trustee of the Westpac Foundation and the Rio Tinto.