name Batavia River Mission at Cullin Point in 1891 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia on the traditional lands of the Tjungundji people. Its residents included the Tjungundji, descendants of other local language groups whose lands were incorporated into the Mapoon Aboriginal reserve over time, people forcibly removed to the mission from the Gulf of Carpentaria area and descendants of South Sea Islanders brought to the mission by Presbyterian missionaries. In 1954, the Presbyterian Church and Department of Native Affairs attended a conference at Mapoon to discuss the mission's future. Director of Native Affairs, Cornelius O’Leary, rejected the Presbyterian Church's proposal to maintain the mission and a policy decision was made to close the mission. Other problems at Mapoon had also been brought to his attention prior to the conference including financial and staffing difficulties, and resident dissatisfaction. O’Leary had already advised the government of his preference to close the mission before attending the conference. Residents of Mapoon were not consulted about the closure of Mapoon and most protested strongly against the initial plan to relocate residents to other Presbyterian missions or to "assimilate those ready for exemption [from the Protection Acts] into the Australian way of life elsewhere". At the time the community became aware of the closure plan in 1954, around 285 people lived at Mapoon. The church administration did not commit to the government's closure policy until 1960, after experiencing persistent pressure caused by under-funding and uncertainty after the discovery of bauxite deposits in the Mapoon-Weipa area in 1955. Between 1961 and 1962, the Presbyterian Church began deliberately reducing services to mission residents. The government had begun to build houses at New Mapoon. By July 1963, the last Presbyterian staff member had resigned, the Department of Native Affairs had appointed one of its staff as Superintendent of Mapoon and around 100 Mapoon residents had relocated to New Mapoon. At the end of 1962, around 162 people still remained at Mapoon continuing their campaign against the closure and setting up alternative schooling, food supplies and transport. The Queensland Government reported in May 1963 that the "balance of the inhabitants of Mapoon of their own volition moved to New Mapoon". However, the official records indicate that this was not the case. On 14 November 1963, the Director of Native Affairs, Patrick Killoran, instructed the Thursday Island police to remove 23 people from Mapoon to Bamaga and "commence demolition of