John Fairfax Holdings Limited
ACN 008 663 161

SYDNEY, October 1, 1999 – John Fairfax Holdings Limited [ASX:FXJ] announced today that it had appointed directors to F2 Limited, its interactive and online businesses subsidiary that was announced on September 17, 1999.

Mr Fred Hilmer, CEO of Fairfax, is the Chairman of F2. Messrs. Jonathan Pinshaw, David Shein and Mark Burrows, who are independent Directors of Fairfax, will join the Board of F2. Mr Pinshaw also serves as Chairman of Big Colour Pages, an Internet directory business owned by F2. The additional Directors of F2 are Mr Nigel Dews, CEO of F2, and Mr Mark Bayliss, Chief Financial Officer of Fairfax.

"F2 is now a separate legal entity and will be managed as such. Several significant business developments are planned in the immediate future and the months ahead. We expect F2 to be a major platform of growth for Fairfax," Mr Hilmer said.

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For further information, please contact:

Fred Hilmer, Chief Executive, Fairfax Tel: (02) 9282 2822

Note to editors

John Fairfax Holdings [ASX:FXJ] is Australia’s leading publishing group. Its mastheads include The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, The Age, The Sun Herald, and BRW. In addition, the company publishes financial and consumer magazines, and provides online services. In 1999, the Company had revenues of over $1.1 billion.

F2, the Fairfax Interactive Network, the Company’s online and interactive businesses, includes Australia’s leading news sites (smh.com.au, theage.com.au, and afr.com.au) and financial sites (brw.com.au, tradingroom.com.au and moneymanager.com.au), the major car supersite (drive.com.au), Australia’s leading classifieds (Fairfax@market), and major employment sites (itjobs.fairfax.com.au).

Fairfax recently launched SOLD.com.au, a major online auction site and Mycareer.com.au, an employment supersite.

F2 also includes CitySearch.com.au, Australia’s biggest online city guides, Big Colour Pages, the only complete national Internet and print directory in the country, and a series of sports sites (rugbyheaven.com.au, Footy99.com.au, cricket.fairfax.com.au).

Fairfax is Australia’s leading content provider on the Internet, with more than 1.2 million page views, and more than 180,000 site visits, per day.

Director Information

Mr Jonathan S. Pinshaw is Chairman of Big Colour Pages Pty Limited. He is the former Chief Executive Officer – Australia of Brierley Investments Limited and former Managing Director of Freedom Furniture Limited.

Mr Mark Burrows is an investment banker and executive Chairman of Baring Brothers Burrows & Co Limited. He is the Chairman of Brambles Industries Limited and the Sydney Theatre Company, and a director of Burns Philp & Company Limited. He chaired the Companies and Securities Advisory Committee from 1989 to 1994 and was one of the principal participants in the creation of the Australian Securities Commission.

Mr David Shein is Managing Director and major shareholder of Com Tech Communications Pty Limited, a company he started in July 1987. Com Tech is a specialist supplier of computer networking and communications products and a leading provider of networking, e-commerce and communications services to the Australian market. He is also a director of Jarren Investments Pty Limited.

Annexure 1: Director Profiles

Copies of Annexure 2, Statement of the Chairman, can be obtained on request to Bruce Wolpe, Corporate Affairs, (02) 9282 3640

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