Aotearoa in 20: Jeremy Robertson is a country lad with an American dream

Saturday, 5 September 2020

Jeremy Robertson wrestles with 25kg bags of stockfeed in his day job but his ambition to be a police officer still burns bright.

Jeremy Robertson, who was raised on a sheep and beef farm in Southland, has ambitions to join the police force and solve murders. He shares his story for Aotearoa in 20, a Stuff special project.

School was good, I passed most of my stuff. But I left during Year 13 because it wasn’t for me anymore.

I was there to play first XV rugby and when that was finished I was like, ‘I have no business being here’. All the sport was done, I wasn’t passing anything, I wasn’t interested anymore.

Everyone else was making decisions on what they wanted to do with their lives, but I was like, I don’t want to go to university and get into debt and have to pay it off in 10 years’ time. I actually want to go out and work straight away.

My school told me about this job going at Southbuild ITM. I talked to my parents and they said, ‘if you don’t want to be at school any more, go ahead’. I called in with my CV and the next day they phoned me and said I had the job.

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Jeremy Robertson was raised on a sheep and beef farm in Southland.

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Jeremy Robertson at his new job with Winton Stock Feed in Invercargill.

In the mornings I was serving the builders and the rest of the day I was cutting timber to certain lengths because we made pellets. I worked there for about 10 months and after that I went to Wellington and did a course. It taught us about police work and what they do.

Southland 20-year-old Jeremy Robertson works at a stockfeed warehouse in Invercargill but sees his future in the police force and ultimately solving homicides in the United States.

Ever since I was a kid I’ve wanted to be a cop. I still do. Just growing up, watching all those programmes, Police Ten 7, Highway Patrol, Motorway Patrol, I was real interested in them. Just thought it would be a good job, doing something different every day. And I just want to make a change in my community.

The Ohai-Nightcaps area where I was raised isn’t a really good area with the drugs. I want to help change that by getting rid of the problem and helping people.

Once I’ve finished with that I want to make my way up to detective. Then I want to work in the United States with a homicide department. I really want to do that.

I want to see if a small-town, Kiwi kid can go over there and make change in the town I get put in. I want to solve murders and put people away that are doing bad things. But I won’t apply for the police force for at least another couple of years.

I realised I was too young when I was doing the course in Wellington. I had just turned 19. No one wants to listen to a 19 to 20 year old cop straight out of their first job. So I said to my parents, ‘nup, I’m too young, I want to work for a bit, then go overseas and do my OE’. Then I will come back and apply.

My parents were supportive and my family are always there for me. If I want to talk, they are always there. If I need help, they always help me. My parents raised me to be the person I am today. I am grateful for that.

I was raised on a sheep and beef farm near Nightcaps, it was me and my Mum and Dad and older sister. I would shift stock, do a bit of tractor work, fix gates and fences, help with the lambing and tailing.

When I was nine or 10, me and my older sister had our own lambing beats, we would check to see if there were any cast ewes or if they were struggling with birth. But I didn’t enjoy the early mornings on the farm, waking up at 7am to be out working at 8am. As a teenager I just wanted sleep.

Me and my father have our own ways of doing stuff. We argue all the time on the farm. It’s his way and his way only.

Every summer our family was at the holiday home in Te Anau, on the lake all day. I loved it growing up. Getting out on the water, just a good feeling, being on the lake, just looking around and thinking, damn I’m living a good life.

I started my new job at Winton Stock Feed a couple of weeks ago. I bag feed for livestock. We are getting into the busy season with calving just starting.

I am living with my sister, her partner and two others. We hardly see each other – I get home, relax, make dinner and everyone goes to their room. Not a sociable house really. I like being social, but if that’s the way they are doing it, I will adapt.

As told to Evan Harding for ‘Aotearoa in 20’, a Stuff project.