Jeremy Irvine

"I had wonderful teachers. You didn't muck around with them, but they pushed you in a good way."

Whenever Jeremy Irvine returns to Yarra, he recalls strong friendships and teachers who were invested in his future. “I remember sitting at the top of the Senior School oval with mates, looking to the hills and talking about what it would be like when we got out into the world. I was very lucky to be here, and I enjoyed every year at Yarra.”

Jeremy joined the School in Year 5 and enjoyed the wisdom and influence of teachers such as Andrew Ponsford, Allan Garbutt, Fred Carstens and Dennis Carroll.

He edited the school magazine during his final year and was part of the orchestra.

“I auditioned for the senior spot in the clarinet section - it was competitive, like getting into uni or applying for a job. Yarra taught me the discipline that if you want something, you must earn it and put in effort. And through running the school magazine, I learned leadership lessons that helped me in my early career.”

Jeremy has also drawn on the final speech of Yarra’s 1990 School Captain, Steven Power.

“He said, ‘Fire up Yarra and may we all fare well’. That quote has reverberated with me.

He nailed the ethos of the School in a sentence.”

Jeremy did a government traineeship with the public service and settled in Canberra where he achieved his goal of becoming a political advisor. He worked with leading political figures including Julie Bishop. He later moved into leading national industry associations.

“Politics is a highly competitive business and looking back, I should have had a more holistic life but it’s addictive. After leaving politics I took myself less seriously. I realised you get 1,000 minutes a day and it’s up to you to live the life you want for those 1,000 minutes.”