Christine Nixon said her Black Saturday dinner was taken 'out of context'
CHRISTINE Nixon has defended her decision to dine out on Black Saturday and claims she has never been accused of poor leadership.
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FORMER police chief Christine Nixon has defended her decision to dine out while Black Saturday fires ravaged the state.
The former police chief now hopes her decision to have dinner with friends while Victoria's worst natural disaster unfolded doesn't define her long and distinguished career.
"People can say whatever they like about me personally, but one of the things I've never been accused of is poor leadership, particularly in the way I've managed the police force,'' she told The Australian Women's Weekly.
"And the problem I have is that the dinner really was taken out of context.''
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Her comments come nearly three months after a royal commission criticised her "hands-off'' leadership style and found Ms Nixon's approach during the deadly fires fell far short of what was expected.
"The commission considers that Ms Nixon's approach to emergency coordination and the manner in which she purported to execute her statutory responsibilities left much to be desired,'' the report said in July.
"The commission concludes that Ms Nixon's approach to emergency coordination was inadequate.''
Ms Nixon had left for the pub with friends minutes after being told the fires on February 7, 2009 could become a disaster and people would likely die.
Ms Nixon did not contact anyone in command during crucial hours - when the majority of Black Saturday's 173 victims had died - and no one in command attempted to contact her.
The fallout from the dinner revelation forced Ms Nixon to return to the the royal commission to give further evidence and led to weeks of intense criticism.
Many bushfire survivors, however, have maintained their strong and loyal support.
Ms Nixon eventually quit as head of bushfire reconstruction efforts and left a Foster's board appointment in the wake of the controversy.
"I can't figure out why I didn't stay or why I didn't come back after dinner,'' she told the magazine.
"The only thing I can rationalise was that at the time I had great faith in the people who were handling it and I didn't think there was much value I could add.''
She added that she feels she's let people down.
"Leadership is not just about the reality, its about the perception, too.''
Her husband says he's annoyed her dinner has been portrayed as a ``celebratory'' event instead of just a meal.
"It wasn't social,'' John Becquet told the magazine.
"If she'd left the centre to clear her head and go for a 40-minute walk that night, would she have copped so much flak? I doubt it.''
Ms Nixon has a memoir coming out next year and she hopes she can overcome how the dinner date on Black Saturday has tarnished her reputation.
"I hope this doesn't define my career,'' she said.
"Some of my more strident critics will never change their views, but I can't have got it all wrong.''