[1] He was educated at Brighton Grammar School and at Monash University, from which he obtained bachelor's degrees in economics and law.

[3] Following Hewson's victory Reith was then elected deputy opposition leader and appointed Shadow Treasurer, a position he held from 1990 to 1993.

Following the landslide victory of John Howard at the 1996 election, Reith was appointed Minister for Industrial Relations, and Leader of the House.

His responsibilities involved drafting and implementing the government's industrial relations policy, and he is perhaps best known for the significant productivity reforms which followed the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute.

Reith was succeeded as MP for Flinders by fellow Liberal Greg Hunt, and as Minister for Defence by Senator Robert Hill.

After leaving parliament, Reith had a number of part-time interests, including advising a Sydney government relations firm, Tenix, a major defence supplier and others.

From 2003 to 2009 he was an executive director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (based in London); in this capacity he represented Australia, the Republic of Korea, Egypt and New Zealand.

While in London, Reith was also a member of an independent commission that reported to the Cameron Opposition on UK tax reform.

In 2013 Reith was Chairman of the Victorian Gas Market Review which concluded with the presentation of his report to the Napthine Government.

From 2014 Reith has been writing weekly for The Sydney Morning Herald and was a political commentator for Sky News Australia, appearing regularly on AM Agenda and The Cabinet.

[9] Reith began co-hosting a temporary format with Peter Beattie in April 2016 as a replacement for Richo while that program's host Graham Richardson was on leave to have major surgery.

[12] State Opposition Leader Matthew Guy had supported Reith challenging Kroger as he (along with many Liberal MPs) believed that branch stacking by power broker Marcus Bastiaan had gone ahead unchecked.

[13] In 2015, Peter married Kerrie Reith in a small and intimate ceremony surrounded by close friends and family.