Australian lawyer ejected from centre

 AN Australian lawyer was ejected from the Manus Island detention centre last week despite a court order granting him access.
Sydney barrister Jay Williams is representing 75 asylum seekers and was granted access to the facility by Justice David Cannings.
Attorney-General Kerenga Kua told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that Williams was not legally allowed to practise as a lawyer in PNG.
He said Williams never applied to the National Court for permission and did not have a licence to practise.
“What it means is that if you’re an admitted lawyer but don’t have a current practising certificate for 2014, you cannot practise law in this country. Now in the case of Williams, it meets neither requirements,” he said.
He said Williams would be deported “on the next available flight”.
Cannings set up a human rights inquiry this month to examine the conditions of asylum seekers at the Manus facility.
The Government put the inquiry on hold on March 21 after it obtained a stay order from the Supreme Court.
Cannings responded by initiating a new inquiry.
The Government is seeking to appeal against Cannings’s refusal to disqualify himself from the inquiry over allegations of bias.
On Wednesday, public solicitor Frazer Pitpit sought an adjournment when the matter returned to court because he did not have a practising certificate.
Justice Cannings has held a week of hearings and allowed a handful of journalists to join him on his second visit to the detention centre, which is normally barred to media.