Darwin Youths Paint Mural on Bus to Mark Reconciliation Week

One Side Of The Bus Was Painted With A Brightly Coloured Snake
One side of the bus was painted with a brightly coloured snake

A bus with a brightly coloured snake will make its way through Palmerston on its normal route thanks to the artistic and talented youths who attended the family fun day that kicked off Darwin’s National Reconciliation Week celebrations.

With spray cans in hand, the youths decorated Buslink NT’s bus with an eye-catching design.

Buslink NT Community Engagement Manager Colin Majid came up with the idea after observing that a mural painted on a wall at a Palmerston shopping centre hadn’t been tagged after a group of local youths designed and painted it themselves.

“We thought maybe if they got to paint the bus themselves, it’s theirs and they might not want to damage it,” he said.

“I thought it would be a good way for them to get to know what we do and maybe that would help in tackling some of the anti-social behaviours in the community.”

Marking Up The Bus Ready To Have It Painted
Marking up the bus ready to have it painted

The Community 4 Community family fun day was hosted by Grassroots Youth Without Barriers and Larrakia Nation and was sponsored by City of Palmerston.

The Palmerston event was held at the Swell Pool on 28 May and the Northern Suburbs event at Casuarina Pool on 3 June.

Both events celebrated this year’s theme of “Be Brave, Make Change”, which called on individuals, families, community organisations and government to unite together and “be brave” in tackling the unfinished business of reconciliation and make positive change across our community.

Member for Drysdale Eva Lawler, who attended the event, thanked Buslink NT for providing the wrap for the bus to be painted.

“Thank you to Trent for designing and overseeing the work and Palmerston Paint Group for donating the paint,” she wrote on her Facebook page.

“We look forward to seeing the bus travelling around Palmerston.”

The End Result Was Fantastic Scaled
The end result was fantastic