(19 August 2005 1:30 pm)

MUMBAI: Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has appointed a new chairman for its Australian media operations in News Ltd CEO John Hartigan. He will be stepping into Lachlan Murdoch's shoes, who resigned from the company last month.

The younger Murdoch has already announced his new company - Illyria, which will have its operations in Australia within days of announcing his resignation from News Corp.

Hartigan will now become executive chairman of the publishing business News Ltd from 1 September, 2005.

Rupert Murdoch was quoted in media reports as saying, "I am delighted John has accepted this role. Under his day-to-day leadership over the past five years, News Ltd has been one of News Corp's most profitable divisions. This year, John and his team are implementing a major capital expenditure program to expand our business in Australia and a raft of new products will be launched this year in addition to those already released."