The 68-year-old Walkley Award-winning journalist died shortly before the 6pm news headlines yesterday evening at Sydney's Royal North Shore Private Hospital.
His wife Anne and children Claire and Adam were by his side.
In a touching tribute article to her father, Claire Harvey, a Daily Telegraph reporter, said the family had managed to say a "long, sweet, precious goodbye".
"Everything was said. We had great conversations about memories and the future.
"Dad cracked bad jokes. He texted his buddies and tweeted. He told everyone - especially Mum - he loved us, over and over."
"Throughout his illness, Dad would say: "It'll all be all right in the end. And if it's not all right, it's not the end."
In an email message to Nine staff, director of news and current affairs Darren Wick said there was no-one else like "Harves".
"We can’t replace a Peter Harvey – he was one of a kind, and there will never be another like him.
"He was the best of us. A passionate journalist, with a love of the written word married with the perfect picture."
Wick also described Harvey's "wonderful and wicked sense of humour".
"In my last conversation with Harves he suggested that we broadcast his memorial service LIVE on NINE – 'Pal', he told me, 'You know it will rate'."
Fellow veteran journalist Ray Martin said Harvey always brought out the best in him as a reporter.
"I would come around the corner (while covering a story) on George Street and I would be like, 'Damn, it's Harvey, I've got to lift my game'."
Harvey announced his cancer diagnosis in October after falling ill on a trip to Italy, where he was celebrating his 45th wedding anniversary with his wife.
He publicly vowed to fight the illness and underwent chemotherapy while continuing to report for Nine News' Sydney bureau and presenting 60 Minutes.
The television icon spoke openly of his cancer diagnosis in recent months and gave his Twitter followers updates on his treatment.
"To all who asked – I'm back in hospital for some (more) tests but things are going well and I'll be out in a few days," he tweeted in January.
He said in an interview with Nine News Sydney presenter Peter Overton last year that he would fight the illness as hard as he could.
"You stand up to this thing and keep going as long and as hard as you possibly can," he said.
Harvey became a household name after launching his television career with the Nine Network in 1975.
He worked as chief reporter of Nine's Canberra bureau, reporting on the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government, before becoming the station's News Director.
He joined the network's Sydney team in 1997 and started presenting the popular Mailbag segment on 60 Minutes in 2003.
Harvey started his career as a newspaper journalist with Sydney's Daily Telegraph and in 1964, at the age of 20, won a Walkley Award for a report on a gangland shooting.
He went on to work for the American Newsweek magazine in the late 1960s and reported on the Vietnam War.
Harvey later moved to England to work for the Guardian and in 1973 was named British Reporter of the Year for a series of stories about corruption in government departments.
His wife Anne and children Claire and Adam were by his side.
In a touching tribute article to her father, Claire Harvey, a Daily Telegraph reporter, said the family had managed to say a "long, sweet, precious goodbye".
"Everything was said. We had great conversations about memories and the future.
"Dad cracked bad jokes. He texted his buddies and tweeted. He told everyone - especially Mum - he loved us, over and over."
"Throughout his illness, Dad would say: "It'll all be all right in the end. And if it's not all right, it's not the end."
In an email message to Nine staff, director of news and current affairs Darren Wick said there was no-one else like "Harves".
"We can’t replace a Peter Harvey – he was one of a kind, and there will never be another like him.
"He was the best of us. A passionate journalist, with a love of the written word married with the perfect picture."
Wick also described Harvey's "wonderful and wicked sense of humour".
"In my last conversation with Harves he suggested that we broadcast his memorial service LIVE on NINE – 'Pal', he told me, 'You know it will rate'."
Fellow veteran journalist Ray Martin said Harvey always brought out the best in him as a reporter.
"I would come around the corner (while covering a story) on George Street and I would be like, 'Damn, it's Harvey, I've got to lift my game'."
Harvey announced his cancer diagnosis in October after falling ill on a trip to Italy, where he was celebrating his 45th wedding anniversary with his wife.
He publicly vowed to fight the illness and underwent chemotherapy while continuing to report for Nine News' Sydney bureau and presenting 60 Minutes.
The television icon spoke openly of his cancer diagnosis in recent months and gave his Twitter followers updates on his treatment.
"To all who asked – I'm back in hospital for some (more) tests but things are going well and I'll be out in a few days," he tweeted in January.
He said in an interview with Nine News Sydney presenter Peter Overton last year that he would fight the illness as hard as he could.
"You stand up to this thing and keep going as long and as hard as you possibly can," he said.
Harvey became a household name after launching his television career with the Nine Network in 1975.
He worked as chief reporter of Nine's Canberra bureau, reporting on the 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government, before becoming the station's News Director.
He joined the network's Sydney team in 1997 and started presenting the popular Mailbag segment on 60 Minutes in 2003.
Harvey started his career as a newspaper journalist with Sydney's Daily Telegraph and in 1964, at the age of 20, won a Walkley Award for a report on a gangland shooting.
He went on to work for the American Newsweek magazine in the late 1960s and reported on the Vietnam War.
Harvey later moved to England to work for the Guardian and in 1973 was named British Reporter of the Year for a series of stories about corruption in government departments.
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