ABC’s Luna Park fire documentary ‘misled’ viewers on Neville Wran: Chris Masters and Rod Tiffen

The ABC failed to substantiate claims Neville Wran was corrupt in its $2m Luna Park fire doco, a review by one of its most respected ex-journalists found.

Caro Meldrum-Hanna in a scene from Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire, which was found to be ‘vague, anonymous and unhelpful’ and not corroborated by documentary evidence or multiple testimony.

An independent review co-­written by one of the ABC’s most respected former investigative journalists has found the broadcaster failed to substantiate any claims that Neville Wran was corrupt in its $2m Luna Park ghost train fire documentary, describing it as having “overreached” and “misleading” viewers.

The review found the broader allegations of political corruption raised by the documentary, ­Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire, reported by Caro Meldrum-Hanna and Patrick Begley, to be “vague, anonymous and unhelpful” and not corroborated by documentary evidence or multiple testimony.

Former NSW premier Neville Wran.

The ABC had, until Monday evening, refused to release the review written by former Four Corners investigative reporter Chris Masters and Sydney University professor Rod Tiffen, instead issuing a statement that pre-­empted the report and claimed it contained a “critical opinion” about only “one aspect” of the program.

Masters and Professor Tiffen in fact found that the documentary misled viewers who may have thought that allegations were conclusions, and said “the absence of rebuttal content left the reviewers with a strong impression the program concluded Wran was complicit”. The review found that none of the Wran corruption claims stacked up.

The documentary linked Wran to Sydney’s notorious criminal underworld figure Abe Saffron and claimed the two were “really pally” and had Friday night drinks together. The review found “no solid evidence” of Wran having a social relationship with Saffron nor any credible evidence of a “direct relationship between Saffron and Wran” at all.

It was further alleged that following the tragic ghost train fire, which claimed the lives of six children and one father, Wran orchestrated to have the Luna Park lease go to a Saffron front company. The review found “no evidence” that Wran improperly interfered with the tender process for Luna Park, which was run by senior public servants.

Abe Saffron in 1993

The basis for this corruption claim was that Wran was mentioned on illegal police wiretaps – the so-called “Age Tapes” – about the Luna Park lease but the review did not find “any evidence of Neville Wran’s communications being directly intercepted” or any mention of Luna Park and Wran on the tapes.

Masters and Professor Tiffen concluded: “At various points … we are told corruption went all the way up the scale to politicians, that senior ministers were corrupt, that transcripts were destroyed because of corruption, and that corruption went all the way to the top. But we never penetrate any further.”

The documentary has been savaged by former premiers Bob Carr and Barrie Unsworth, who served as ministers in the Wran government. Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, a later business partner of Wran, testified to the former premier’s integrity. He said there was no evidence that Wran acted ­corruptly while premier.

Former ABC chairman and managing director David Hill, who worked on Wran’s staff, said the documentary breached editorial policies and labelled it “sloppy journalism”. Milton Cockburn, a former adviser to Wran and editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, blasted the documentary in a formal complaint that was dismissed by the ABC.

Investigators at the scene of the ghost train fire at Sydney's Luna Park in 1979.

The Australian has reported that several interviewees in the documentary, such as former government architect Andrew Andersons and ride attendant Tony Jacob, said they were misrepresented by the ABC and their interviews were selectively edited to support conspiracy, ­corruption and cover-up claims.

Michelle Rowland, Labor’s communications spokeswoman, sharply criticised the documentary makers for implicating Wran in a cover-up of the fire investi­gation, claiming he socialised with Saffron and interfered in the tender process to ensure the amusement park lease went to a Saffron-linked company.

“(The external editorial review) would appear to vindicate the many who expressed concern that the portrayal of former NSW premier Neville Wran was neither fair nor credible,” she said.

“It is a credit to The Australian that this matter was pursued, and I acknowledge the work of Labor senators in interrogating the matter at Senate estimates and the ABC for reviewing the program as part of its commitment to high editorial standards.”

ABC managing director David Anderson and editorial director Craig McMurtrie told Senate estimates in May that it did not matter whether claims about Wran were “right or wrong” because they were “allegations” only and did not need to be “proven facts”.

On Monday, the ABC said it was proud of the documentary.