"After that, I continued training and working as a nurse therapist in Palmerston North. I then purchased a half share in a furniture manufacturing business in Wellington, which I was involved with for three years."
Peter is married and has two sons in Wellington.
After selling his share of the business, he was appointed as director of Richmond Fellowship which operated a therapeutic community.
He then moved to Whangaroa in the Far North where he became the area manager of the local health services, including a hospital, GP practice and community services. This he did for seven years.
"Being a small-town bureaucrat meant that I was very involved in the community."
He says one major thing he got involved in was becoming a paddler in the waka (Ngatokimatawhaorua) at Waitangi for six or seven years.
He went to live in Whanganui, and worked as a real estate salesperson for the two years he lived there.
"I also did my MBA at Massey University at the same time. Afer that, I managed to obtain work in Auckland as a consultant business analyst for a recycling company."
He continued this work for the next 25 years, broken up by different overseas trips and sabbaticals.
During this period, he also worked for four years at Lifeline as a volunteer telephone counsellor.
"Then six years ago I moved to Thames while still working two days a week in Auckland. I purchased the used bookshop in Thames which was a spur of the moment sort of thing.
"After I expanded that, I opened an art gallery for 18 months as well. Slowly I have become more involved with life in Thames while growing the book and jigsaw business."
Peter says he has become more interested in the Coromandel as a whole. He regularly travels around the peninsula visiting different spots - swimming, walking or just appreciating the beauty of the area.
"So why the mayoral thing? The role interests me. I feel that the skills, experience - on a whole lot of different levels - and knowledge that I have accumulated are appropriate."
He says he cares for the community in which he lives, and would like to contribute in a positive way.
And what would he want to achieve?
"I would like to see the main shopping areas in the Coromandel be called pedestrian and parking friendly zones - where people in cars are restricted to a 30km/h speed limit, people crossing the street and people parking are given priority.
"I also think that the Vibe has to be moved in Thames – the idea of separating the two main shopping areas, as well as blocking a part of the roundabout, is both ridiculous and inconvenient for visitors and locals."
Peter says there is also the Spatial Plan to consider, as well as the development that is about to happen in Kopu.
"Other than that, a more transparent decision-making process, based on the idea of helping people achieve what they want from life.
"The major medium to long-term issue is how we deal with climate change and to reduce our effect on this change. Ideally, we want to protect what we have."
