Peter Kennedy

Peter St John Kennedy (born 1942/43)

Career After leaving school, he worked in the library at The West Australian newspaper in 1960, but was unable to get a cadetship. He then studied at the University of Western Australia, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts (economics) and a diploma of education. Following that, he became a high school teacher, at Bunbury Senior High School, and a lecturer in economics at Leederville Technical College. He then joined the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, where presented the Morning and Drive programs on ABC Radio Perth.

In 1995, Kennedy was awarded the Clarion Prize at the WA Media Awards. He became state political reporter for ABC News in 2000 and held the post until he retired from daily journalism in 2010. He continued as a political commentator, including writing the Political Perspective column for the weekly (now fortnightly) Business News.

Kennedy was appointed Member of the Order of Australia in the 2025 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to the print and broadcast media as a journalist".

Books Kennedy wrote Tales from Boom Town, a book about the premiers of Western Australia from David Brand to Colin Barnett. It was published in 2014 by UWA Press.