But on Friday, the 35-year-old was tragically killed in what has been described as the worst skydiving accident in Australia’s history.

Mr Dawson was one of three killed during the skydiving incident over Mission Beach in Queensland. He died doing what he loved.

Speaking to The Courier from Queensland at the weekend, Mr Dawson’s mother Liz paid tribute to the son who was the light of his family’s life. “He was a thrill-seeker and he died doing what he loved,” she said. 

“My thoughts go out to the other two families who lost loved ones and are suffering because of this tragedy.

“Peter was passionate about skydiving. This was a tragic accident in which Peter died doing what he loved the most. He would have been devastated for the other two families involved … he would have been brokenhearted.”

While Mr Dawson, a Ballarat High School alumni, was highly intelligent, he disliked the school system and quickly realised his true passions in life were outside the school walls.

He became a highly trained and respected skydiver, racking up thousands of jumps over the past decade. He was also a passionate environmentalist and an advocate for people's rights. 

When he was 18 he and a mate took off to Darwin on an adventure of a lifetime  before he fell in love with skydiving.

A good friend from Bendigo introduced him to skydiving. His passion for the extreme sport was quickly ignited at Bridgewater, in northern Victoria, before he decided to move to Cairns and then to his spiritual home of Mission Beach.

His mother described her son as “a humanistic person” who loved people. “Peter was also a hugely deep thinker and he cared passionately about the environment and the rights of everyone.”

His father Robert had spent the last three weeks with his son and even undertook his second skydive with Peter during that time.