The Immigration Department insisted that Manus Island security firm G4S be given batons for guard duties even though the firm said it did not want them, a Senate inquiry heard on Tuesday.
Yet the firm's request for 200 extra sets of protective clothing including shields was denied by the department as tensions on the island rose before the clashes of mid-February that left one asylum seeker dead and scores injured.
Instead only 50 sets were provided. The batons remained ''locked away'' and were never used, G4S managing director of immigration services Chris Manning told the hearing.
On the first day of the Senate inquiry into the Manus Island riot, G4S painted a picture in which the department was very much in charge of the running of the centre, despite the government's insistence it is a Papua New Guinea-run operation.
Mr Manning said the firm had written to the government on four occasions to also request an upgrade to the security measures on the island.
In October it wrote to the department twice with formal proposals to warn against the current security measures, the hearing was told. However, it never received a response, Mr Manning said.
The inquiry also heard that the department had never received a copy of any contract between G4S and its local security subcontractor, Loda Securities - a revelation that prompted Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young to question whether the department had full oversight of operations on the ground.
Department head Martin Bowles initially told the hearing that the department never asked for a copy of the subcontract. However an email dated December 7, 2012, reveals that in fact a departmental officer, Cherie Mataczyna, asked G4S lawyer Andrew Dewsnap for a copy. It appears that one was never provided and the request was never followed up.
''The department did its best to evade questioning but today has clearly shown that they were calling the shots and are now trying to blame everyone else,'' Senator Hanson-Young said afterwards.
The inquiry heard that G4S had made numerous complaints about the lack of security infrastructure.
When Labor senator Lisa Singh asked Mr Bowles whether he had read the G4S submission, he said he had ''skim-read'' it.
To which she replied: ''It's a pretty key submission. I thought that you would have read it.''
The public hearings will continue until Friday.
