Peter has been a journalist and a broadcaster with the ABC since 1987. He has won numerous awards as a journalist, including the 1995 NSW Law Society Golden Quill Award for excellence in legal reporting, the 2001 Austcare Media Award and the 2001 United Nations Association of Australia Media Peace Prize.

He is the author of the book Borderline: Australia's response to refugees and asylum seekers in the wake of the Tampa (UNSW Press 2002). Borderline won prizes in the 2001 Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the 2002 NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the 2001 Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission Human Rights Awards. It also received the 2001 Centre for Australian Cultural Studies Prize for an outstanding contribution to Australian cultural life.

In addition to his position at ABC Radio National, Peter is an adjunct research fellow at the Institute of Social Research at Swinburne University of Technology, where he continues to pursue his interest in issues of migration, borders and human movement.