Perth, March 13, 2026, 02:29 AWST
Clough announced Thursday that its chief executive, Peter Bennett, has died. Australian media put his age at 59. The company declined to provide a cause of death, requesting privacy for Bennett’s family.
The loss comes as the business faces a sensitive moment. Bennett remained in charge as Clough shifted under Webuild, which has turned the group into Webuild’s Australian base. The business now counts over 3,000 staff and a pipeline in Australia valued near A$18 billion.
Clough isn’t saying yet who’ll step in as interim leader, just that details are coming “in due course.” The question isn’t trivial—Bennett held a key role in the company’s public leadership post-takeover, still reporting to Executive President Marco Assorati, according to the setup Clough described back in 2023. Clough
Bennett stepped in as chief executive and managing director in February 2016, Clough’s corporate history shows. Oil prices were tumbling to lows not seen since 2003, squeezing contractors dependent on oil and gas projects.
He played a key role guiding Clough after a previous sale fell through, taking the company into voluntary administration—the Australian insolvency route—in December 2022. Webuild stepped in, agreeing to acquire the assets in early 2023. According to Webuild, the purchase brought more than A$6 billion in backlog, referring to secured but unfinished work, and protected 1,100 jobs.
Clough is busy with projects like Snowy 2.0, Waitsia Stage 2 out in Western Australia, Darwin Ship Lift, Project Ceres, plus the Woodman Point upgrade. No wonder clients, subcontractors, and suppliers are paying close attention to the succession process.
CIMIC and Monadelphous are also in the mix in Australia’s contracting market. CIMIC describes itself as an engineering-driven services, construction and natural resources group. Monadelphous, for its part, operates across resources, energy and infrastructure. Clough points to those same areas as its main focus.
Bennett’s public stance on workplace culture was clear. After Clough named him chair of CEOs for Gender Equity in 2022, executive officer Tania Cecconi described him as a “champion for inclusion and diversity.” Bennett, for his part, called diversity “an investment in the future of our industry.” Clough
The company isn’t facing a work stoppage on its projects right now. Still, with no interim chief in place, there’s uncertainty about who signs off on bids, supplier deals, and client updates, according to the company’s own statement.
Bennett described the post-deal reset with Webuild and Clough as a turning point, saying the business now had “greater scale and solidity.” He expects that boost to support delivery of “complex and iconic projects.” Clough
