The head of Victoria’s Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority, Christine Nixon, is hoping the media will move their attention away from her family.
Ms Nixon has provided more details about her activities on Black Saturday.
Pressure has been growing on the former police chief commissioner to step down down as head of the authority, after she admitted at the Bushfires Royal Commission that she went out for dinner on Black Saturday.
Ms Nixon has now provided further details of her movements on February 7 last year, contradicting earlier evidence given to the commission.
She now says she also had a haircut and a session with her biographer on that day.
“On the morning of February 7 at 9:30am I had a haircut. It was a recurring appointment, one I could have cancelled. I believed I could carry out my duties as well,” she said.
“I also had a private appointment… to meet with a person who had been working with me on my biography.
“In hindsight I would have done things differently… particularly I would have stayed at the [state emergency] centre that night.”
Ms Nixon is adamant the appointments did not detract from her ability to do her job.
She insists her decision to speak out has less to do with damage control, and is more about protecting her family and bushfire-affected communities.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to provide some details about what I actually did on that day, and hopefully so that approaches that have been made to my family and particularly my elderly parents might stop,” she said.
Ms Nixon has acknowledged there are many people who would like to see her resign, but says she is more determined than ever to stay put.
“I know that what I have is a range of enemies,” she said.
She says whatever she did that day would not have changed the ultimate tragic outcome.
“What I did on that day as chief commissioner will be judged ultimately by the Royal Commission,” she said.
“They are the ones who will hear all the evidence and make a decision when they report about whether or not my behaviours on that day were appropriate.”
