Former Victorian police chief Christine Nixon says she was at the hairdresser's and met with her biographer while the Black Saturday bushfire disaster unfolded last year.
Ms Nixon called an urgent news conference at 6pm (AEST) on Friday, sparking speculation she would announce she was quitting as head of the bushfire reconstruction authority.
She has faced intense criticism after revealing that, as the police chief commissioner, she left the fire control centre to have a pub dinner on the evening of Black Saturday.
Remaining defiant
But she remained defiant on Friday, saying she has never considered quitting her reconstruction role and defending her actions on the day 173 people died in Australia's worst bushfires.
"On the morning of February 7 at 9.30am I had a haircut, it was a recurring appointment, one I could have cancelled. I believe I could carry out my duties as well," she told reporters.
"I also had a private appointment (that afternoon) ... 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."
Royal commission 'will judge'
Ms Nixon said 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. 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," she told reporters.
"Some people are continuing to pursue the nature of those personal appointments (on Black Saturday)."
She was appointed as the head of the Victorian Bushfires Reconstruction and Recovery Authority after she had stepped down as chief commissioner shortly after the fires.
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