‘‘I think constantly about the young Somalian boy, who was probably only 19 or in his early 20s, who was so badly beaten that he could not eat or speak,’’ Mr Kilburn said, recalling the three nights he spent with the wounded after asylum seeker Reza Barati died and scores of others were injured.

The former fireman and politician came to Canberra despite legal advice that he would be in breach of the confidentiality agreement he signed when he became a security guard at the detention centre because he wanted the young Somalia boy’s story to be told.

Mr Kilburn was among government officials, security companies and human rights lawyers who descended on Parliament House to give evidence to the Senate committee. The stated aim of the inquiry was to discover who was ultimately responsible for the centre and therefore February’s violence.

Instead, an almost comedic finger-pointing exercise ensued.

The immigration department said the Manus Island centre was ‘‘PNG-owned and operated’’. Security company G4S said it was the government calling the shots. The government’s independent report said a Salvation Army worker had killed Reza Barati. The Salvation Army said its worker was a hero, not a murderer.

Vagueness also plagued the inquiry. The statement ‘‘I cannot recall’’ was uttered seven times by secretary of immigration Martin Bowles during the first day.

The Salvation Army used the inquiry to attack the Abbott government and Immigration Minister Scott Morrison for ‘‘misleading the media’’. It claims there was no evidence to suggest its staff member ‘‘AB’’ dealt the final blow to Reza Barati’s skull as reported in the government’s independent review authored by Robert Cornall. In fact, they painted AB as a hero, stepping into the violence to rescue the asylum seekers.

‘‘The Salvation Army is profoundly disappointed the minister made such comments in the absence of any clear and reliable evidence,’’ said Sharon Callister, chief executive officer.

G4S employees fronted the inquiry in sharp suits and matching blue ties and answered the questions courteously and politely.

While Mr Bowles had firmly told the inquiry three times that PNG was ‘‘running the centre’’, the evidence told another story.

‘‘We had a contractual arrangement with the department, so the first port of call was with the department,’’ Kevin Pye, the G4S regional general manager said.

The inquiry heard G4S was required to go to the government with all funding requests. The government had also required G4S purchase batons, they said.

When G4S requested 200 sets of protective equipment, the government told the company that 50 would be sufficient.

The Salvation Army’s spending was also controlled by the government, the inquiry heard.

‘‘We did not have the authority to spend money without seeking the department's advance notice,’’ said Luke Geary, a legal representative for the Salvation Army.

It was Queensland Liberal Senator Ian MacDonald who escalated the inquiry to a new level of drama on Thursday, as he took on 24-year-old Nicole Judge who had worked for the Salvation Army on Manus Island.

In her submission Ms Judge described a ''rape dungeon'' on the island, and said she was sexually harassed many times by PNG locals and expat guards. With no experience or interview, the former JB Hi-Fi employee was hired by the Salvation Army and flown overseas within two days of applying for a job through a Facebook advertisement.

Despite Ms Judge's allegations, she facedan odd line of questioning by Senator Macdonald.

''Have you ever met a politician before?'' he asked.

''No, but we watch you on TV,'' Ms Judge replied.

''OK, well you can't have much of a life if you do that,'' he said with a chuckle, before continuing: ''You probably would be pleased that no more asylum seekers are coming to Australia since the boats have stopped, you know that one-line slogan you mentioned, so there will be no more new transferees coming to Manus. You'd be happy about that wouldn't you?'' he said.

''Well, I wouldn't say I was happy that we're turning boats back, but I am happy no more asylum seekers are going to Manus and Nauru, but I wouldn't go as far to say I was happy that asylum seekers aren't coming,'' she replied.

''Yeah, well, we won't have a debate,'' Senator MacDonald said.

The debate, however,  is now about who is responsible for the centre. If we’re to believe the government, it is PNG. If we are to believe the service providers, it is the government.

Perhaps we’ll find out when the government faces the inquiry again next month.