Captain Peter Edward James Collins, AM, RFD, KC, RANR (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.

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.

[citation needed] Collins was elected to the seat of Willoughby in the NSW Legislative Assembly in 1981 as a Liberal.

However, he easily dispatched Britt in a 1984 rematch, picking up a swing large enough to revert Willoughby to its traditional status as a comfortably safe Liberal seat.

Collins served as Health Minister, Treasurer, and other portfolios throughout the Liberal Government until its defeat by Labor under Bob Carr in 1995.

Collins, despite expressing interest, chose not to seek Liberal preselection for the ensuing by-election due to the State Coalition holding office as a minority government.

If Collins had become the preselected candidate it would have required him to resign from State Parliament in order to contest this federal by-election and placed in question the stability of the minority Coalition government.

He is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (FAIST) and Chairman of the Sydney Financial Forum.

Collins' interests include: military and naval history, contemporary dance, visual arts, film and literature.