Call for Luna Park ghost train fire inquiry to clear Neville Wran of cover-up

Neville Wran’s former staff have called for a fresh inquiry into the circumstances and aftermath of the Luna Park ghost train fire in 1979.

Firemen at scene of Ghost Train ride fire that killed 6 children and 1 adult at Luna Park in Sydney in 1979.

Neville Wran’s former staff have called for a fresh inquiry into the circumstances and aftermath of the Luna Park ghost train fire in 1979, confident it would exonerate the former NSW premier from being implicated in a cover-up and socialising with gangster Abe Saffron.

The former staff, including Milton Cockburn, a former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, David Hill, a former chairman and managing director of the ABC, and David Hurley, a former director of corporate affairs for Channel 9, have condemned the ABC documentary Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire.

Former NSW premier Neville Wran.

The Weekend Australian revealed that the documentary, reported by Caro Meldrum-Hanna, made a number of false and misleading claims that were not backed up by credible evidence, claiming Wran organised for the Luna Park lease to go to a Saffron front company after the fire.

“Apparently the normal rules of journalism, particularly the requirement for at least two independent sources, are suspended when a person is dead,” the former staff write in a letter to The Australian published today. “The inquiry will provide the opportunity to establish the truth or otherwise of her claim that Wran had put his entire political career at risk by such an association. The inquiry also needs to examine how Wran managed to influence a tender decision made by six independent and senior public servants.”

Former premiers Bob Carr and Barrie Unsworth also condemned the ABC allegations. Malcolm Turnbull, a former business partner of Wran’s, also rejected assertions he was corrupt.

The ABC did not respond to a request for comment.