Territory Government started to develop the Beswick Creek community, building basic housing infrastructure and creating some minor employment opportunities. Local farmers also employed Aboriginal people, even running a peanut farm at Beswick Creek. The farm only lasted a few years. As Beswick grew, new groups formed a camp on the other side of the river known as "The Compound" where the people made humpies. 1950s to present The Barunga school was first opened in 1954 with 42 children enrolled. The elders changed the name of "The Compound" to Bamyili in 1965. In 1984, it changed its name to Barunga. Australian cycling champion Cadel Evans spent his early childhood in Barunga, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1985 the Barunga Festival was first held. In 1988, the Barunga Statement was presented to the prime minister at the event. (See below for detail.) Barunga Festival Bangardi Robert Lee (1952–2005), a leader of the Bagala clan of the Jawoyn people, initiated the Barunga Sport and Cultural Festival in 1985. It became an important forum for sharing ideas, showcasing the Aboriginal Australian and Torres Strait Islander cultures and talent, and to engage with social and political issues. It has become an annual music and cultural celebration, held on the Queen's Birthday long weekend (second weekend) in June attracting over 4,000. It features a program of workshops, dancing ceremonies, traditional bush tucker-gathering, didgeridoo-making, basket weaving and musical performances and sport. In 2018, popular Tiwi band B2M played at the festival. The 2020 Festival was postponed from June to September, then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 event went ahead as scheduled on 11-13 June. The number of interstate patrons was limited by the organisers, and some local Indigenous groups did not attend due to caution over COVID-19. The Barunga Statement (1988) In 1988, as part of Bicentennial celebrations, the prime minister of Australia Bob Hawke visited the Northern Territory for the Barunga Festival, where he was presented with a statement of Aboriginal political objectives by Galarrwuy Yunupingu and Wenten Rubuntja. Painted on a 1.2 metre square sheet of composite wood, it became known as the "Barunga Statement". It stated: Prime Minister Hawke responded by saying that he wished to conclude a treaty between Aboriginal and other Australians by 1990, but his wish was not fulfilled. Controversy erupted over the exposure of sacred material in the bark painting, leading some Indigenous leaders