Senator calls for ABC ombudsman after Exposed Luna Park series slammed

A three-part investigation from the ABC that cost $2 million has sparked calls for an independent ombudsman to police the national broadcaster.

An ABC three-part investigation that cost $2 million and was criticised by an external review has led to renewed calls for an independent ombudsman to police the national broadcaster.

The ABC’s defiance in the face of internal and external criticism of its series on the Luna Park Fire shows it needs stronger controls to ensure it is “being fair and balanced”, South Australian senator Alex Antic said

The series EXPOSED: The Ghost Train Fire delved into the 1979 Luna Park fire that killed seven people. It concluded arsonists started the fire and former premier Neville Wran was complicit.

But an external review commissioned by the ABC found the show did not have enough evidence to draw that conclusion, which was spelled out with incriminating graphics. Despite that the ABC has refused to back down.

In a statement the ABC said it “is proud” of the series and “the talented, diligent and hardworking team of journalists who made it”.

EXPOSED: The Ghost Train Fire on the ABC.

And it said external reviews were “not compliance reviews or audits.”

The ABC’s internal complaints investigators had “found there was no breach of editorial standards.”

ABC News director Gaven Morris said: “ABC News doesn’t accept the reviewers’ opinion that the graphic was misleading.”

He said the review concluded viewers were left “with the impression” Mr Wran was guilty. “That was not the program’s intention or assertion.”

The ABC’s own Media Watch presenter Paul Barry said he was “dumbfounded” by that statement.

“To argue that the program did not point the finger at Wran and that these eminent reviewers have got it wrong is, in our view, indefensible,” he said. “The ABC really needs to do better.”

Senator Antic said the ABC should be given external help to do better.

“An obvious deficiency in the public broadcasting landscape is the establishment of an independent Ombudsman enforcing strict timelines with genuine punitive consequences to ensure the ABC is being fair and balanced,” he said.

“The fact that $2 million of taxpayer funds was used to produce the now debunked Luna Park Ghost train documentary is merely the tip of the iceberg.

“The Australian taxpayer funds the ABC to the tune of $1.1 billion per annum and for that expenditure, they are entitled to expect accurate and impartial news and current affairs programming.”

There have been calls for an independent review into the ABC after it aired EXPOSED: The Ghost Train Fire

The $2 million price tag for the series would have paid more than 20 journalists for a year, funded 10 episodes of four corners or 20 episodes of Australian Story. The ABC would not confirm suggestions on Media Watch that there will be no new instalments of Exposed.

Evan Mulholland, from the Institute of Public Affairs said: “The ABC have arrogantly dismissed every single legitimate complaint made about the program, despite the external review having found those concerns to be valid.

“Continuously we’ve seen the ABC dismiss valid complaints about bias in its programming and staff through its internal, closed shop complaints process, it is completely inappropriate,” he said.