AAP General News (Australia)
04-14-2010
Vic: Former police chief admits no contact during critical hours
By Edwina Scott
MELBOURNE, April 14 AAP - Victoria's former police chief has admitted she didn't speak
to anyone for three hours at a critical time on Black Saturday but says she had confidence
in the people delegated to manage the disaster.
While the state's death toll mounted, Christine Nixon had no telephone discussions
about the dire bushfire situation between 6pm and 9pm on February 7, it emerged on Wednesday.
Charged with coordinating the state's emergency response, Ms Nixon could not access
internet, radio, television or email during dinner with friends at her local pub in North
Melbourne, the inquiry heard.
She also kept a private appointment early that morning and worked on matters unrelated
to the bushfires despite statewide emergency preparations during the week for the horror
conditions forecast.
The packed the hearing room heard Ms Nixon's deputy, Assistant Commissioner Stephen
Fontana, worked tirelessly from 6am until about 1am the next day to keep emergency management
staff informed of developments across three control and coordination centres.
Mr Fontana said he received little instruction from Ms Nixon on the day but took charge
in his role.
Police had been "going non-stop" since about Australia Day in January, he said.
"We were on high alert the whole period," he told the commission.
The bushfires killed 173 people and decimated homes and businesses in 107 rural communities.
Ms Nixon's admission she had no access to media updates during the evening is at odds
with earlier evidence that she had gone home and monitored events from a variety of sources.
Fronting the bushfires royal commission for the second time, a defensive Ms Nixon faced
intense examination by counsel assisting the inquiry, Rachel Doyle, SC.
When she left the Integrated Emergency Coordination Centre (IECC) in a car driven by
Mr Fontana about 6pm, Ms Nixon was dropped home and then walked to the Metropolitan Hotel
for a casual meal with her husband and two friends, where she spent about 80 minutes,
but consumed no alcohol.
Ms Doyle suggested the omission was made deliberately to avoid embarrassment but Ms
Nixon told the hearing she had omitted to include the pub meal in her submission because
she didn't see any reason to explain it.
"I didn't think it was relevant," she told the commission.
"Whether I had a meal at home and prepared it myself or whether I had a meal otherwise
I didn't see as being important."
She said Mr Fontana and Deputy Commissioner Kieran Walshe were unaware of her dinner
date but said both knew they could call her at any time.
"People knew that I had a telephone and that they could contact me," she said.
But Ms Nixon, who repeatedly told the commission her phone was switched on during dinner,
did not take any telephone calls or receive text messages after leaving the IECC until
she took a call from police media director Nicole McKechnie at 8.56pm.
Ms Nixon said she couldn't have added any fresh thinking to the coordination effort
at the IECC, and stressed she had faith in the people delegated to perform their duties,
including Mr Walshe and Mr Fontana.
"Both of them are more experienced than I am in terms of emergency management procedures,"
she said.
"And that's why I put my faith in them to do that job.
"It was not my job to swoop in and take control...
"We were not the combat or responsible agencies, we were the coordinating agency..."
Ms Doyle said that the absence of Ms Nixon's driver, personal assistant, note-taker
or police uniform on February 7 and a table pre-booked for dinner all suggested Ms Nixon
was not prepared for active duty that day, a fact the former police chief has previously
confirmed.
"I believed that we had very good people there carrying out the responsibilities and
my role was to have put that all into place beforehand..." Ms Nixon said.
"I think all of us who were involved in the emergency management response have considered
our roles and obviously wondered whether we could have done things differently."
AAP ees/jnb/de
KEYWORD: TEAGUE NIXON WRAP (PIX AVAILABLE)
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