Peter Collins (Australian politician)

Peter Edward James Collins, AM, RFD, QC (born. 10 May 1947) was the Leader of the Opposition in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly from 4 April 1995 to 8 December 1998.

Early years and background

Peter Collins was born the eldest son of Ronald and Mavis Collins. He was educated at Marist College Kogarah, Saint Patrick's, Bathurst and Waverley College from 1960 to 1964. From 1965 to 1972 Collins was a student at the University of Sydney, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor in Journalism, and residing at St John's College. After university, Collins went on to be a journalist and researcher for Four Corners and Monday Conference on ABC TV and was a media consultant for several major companies.

During his university years from 1964 - 1960, Collins joined the Army Reserve gaining the rank of Lieutenant. In 1969, Collins qualified as a parachutist in the 1st Commando Company. In 1988 after being promoted to Commissioned Lieutenant, he was promoted to Lieutenant-Commander and then to Commander in 1994 and Honorary Colonel a year later. Currently, Collins is the Director for Navy Reserve Support (NSW) and he was promoted to the rank of Captain in 2009.

Political career

Collins was elected to the seat of Willoughby in the Legislative Assembly in 1981 as a Liberal, serving in opposition until the election of Nick Greiner as Premier in 1988. He held Willoughby until his retirement, except between 1988 and 1991, when it was called Middle Harbour. Collins served as Health Minister and Treasurer amongst other portfolios throughout the Liberal Government until its defeat by the Australian Labor Party led by Bob Carr in 1995. Collins was immediately elected opposition leader on 4 April 1995, but he was deposed by Kerry Chikarovski on 8 December 1998 without having faced an election. Collins remained in Parliament until the 2003 state election, which he did not contest.^[1]

Later career

After leaving the State Parliament, Collins was the Chairman of the Cancer Institute of New South Wales from 2005-2008; Chairman of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (Canberra) 2004-2005 and; Barrister-at-Law, Edmund Barton Chambers, practising at the New South Wales Bar for 3 years. Collins is also Chairman of the Board of Directors of non emergency patient transport company National Patient Transport.^[2]

Personal life

Collins has married three times; Jennifer Ruth White in 1973 with whom he has two sons. In 1983 Collins married Dominique Fisher with whom he also has two sons. Both these marriages ended in divorce. Since 2002 Collins has been married to Jennine Leonarder. Collins' interests include: military and naval history, contemporary dance, visual arts, film and literature.^[3]

References