Ex-police chief defends decision

Former Victoria Police chief Christine Nixon has defended her decision to go out for dinner on Black Saturday, hours after being told people could die in the bushfires.

Nixon went for dinner with two friends after visiting the Integrated Emergency Co-ordination Centre earlier on February 7 last year. She was told at the centre there would be a likely loss of life in the raging bushfires, which went on to kill 173 people.

Giving evidence to the Bushfires Royal Commission, Nixon said she had a meal and monitored the bushfires through the internet, television and radio. But yesterday's Herald Sun reported she told the newspaper she had gone out to a bistro for dinner with friends.

Nixon said her dinner had no impact on her ability to monitor the bushfires. Nixon now heads the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and Recovery Authority.