By Luke Voogt
Maori elders have begun patrolling Corio and North Shore buses in an effort to curb crime and help troubled youths.
Victoria Maori Wardens president Eva Tai-Rakena joined fellow group members on “high risk” routes 20 and 22 during their first Geelong patrol on Saturday.
“There wasn’t any fare evasion,” Ms Tai-Rakena said.
“People were pretty good. They were more-interested in who we were and what we were up to.
“We enjoyed engaging with all the people – it was awesome.”
The mostly “mature-aged” Maori and Pacific Islander wardens had patrolled buses in Werribee and Sunshine since 2014, Ms Tai-Rakena said.
Now the group hoped to prevent anti-social behaviour and fare evasion in northern Geelong, she said.
“That’s where most of our south Pacific people are so we’re targeting there. We have wardens that live in Geelong and a couple of them live around Corio.”
The wardens focussed primarily on troubled youths of Samoan, Tongan, Maori and Cook Islander descent, Ms Tai-Rakena said.
But the volunteers were happy to refer any troubled youths or individuals to homelessness services or other support, she said.
“We talk to them, engage them and they warm to us. We’ll try to help them as much as we can.”
CDC Geelong’s Doug Nyman welcomed the wardens on the company’s local buses.
“We are confident that this will provide positive reinforcements on our bus services in Geelong and help to reduce the incidence of anti-social incidents,” he said.
