After early schooling in Adelaide and Melbourne, Peter lived for many years with his family in Townsville, North Queensland. He married Deidre Mountjoy in 1990 and they have two sons who are both actors. After taking a PhD in social psychology at James Cook University in 1986, Peter taught there for thirty years, retiring in 2016. He has published extensively in his academic fields but this is his first book of poetry. 

Peter now lives at Lennox Head in northern NSW. When asked what he is doing now, he says he likes to divide his time equally between reading, writing, travel, fishing, cooking, eating, and sleeping. He says that at 64 he has now lived long enough to be aware of his absurd predicament; to feel, therefore, less confused about things; and to be largely free of pretense, except in matters concerning himself.