ABC accused of pulling a fast one on Neville Wran documentary

Aunty accused of ­selective editing, misrepresentation and biased reporting in documentary about the Luna Park ghost train fire.

Investigative reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna in a scene from Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire. Picture: ABC

The ABC has been accused of ­selective editing, misrepresentation and biased reporting by ­architect Andrew Andersons, who was interviewed about his role in the tender process for Sydney’s Luna Park in a documentary about the ghost train fire and ­aftermath.

Mr Andersons, 78, worked in the NSW Government’s Architects Office and was on the tender assessment committee for Luna Park in 1980. He said the tender process had integrity, there was no political influence and no evidence former premier Neville Wran corruptly interfered.

“The ABC did not accurately represent my views,” Mr Andersons said. “They used tendentious editing to try and prove a predetermined view.

“Only a tiny percentage of the interview was used.

“The tender process was totally above board. Nobody influenced the panel process — certainly I was not told by anybody to do anything. The public servants on the panel were all very experienced and professional.”

Mr Andersons felt deceived by reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna who, he alleged, handed him documents to read on camera which contained unverified statements and unproven allegations, and asked leading questions. “I was being used to argue the tender process had been interfered with but that was not my view,” he said.

This damning view comes after former ABC chairman and managing director David Hill — who previously worked for the Wran government — said the documentary was “sloppy journalism” and the claims about Wran socialising with Abe Saffron and being implicated in a cover-up should never have been broadcast.

Former premiers Bob Carr and Barrie Unsworth also told The Weekend Australian there was no evidence Wran was linked to Saffron or was involved in a cover-up over the fire and sought to influence the tender for Luna Park. Gary Sturgess, the principal architect of ICAC who ran the cabinet office in Nick Greiner’s government, also refuted those ABC claims about Wran.

An aerial view of the damage following the fire on the Ghost Train ride at Luna Park in Sydney in 1979.

At the time of the tender process, Mr Andersons was the principal architect — special projects in the Department of Works. He worked with Wran on a number of significant projects in Sydney and said the ABC’s allegations Wran was corrupt were false. “I had a long association with Wran,” he said. “He always struck me as highly professional and the claim he had any association with Saffron I find absolutely incredible.

“Caro Meldrum-Hanna fell short of the usual journalism standards that I expect from the ABC. The documentary was too dramatised, overly emotional and the ­reporting was based on predetermined outcomes.”

Following the fire in 1979, an interdepartmental committee, arm’s-length of ministers, awarded the lease for Luna Park to Australasian Amusements (later renamed Harbourside). The ABC’s Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire claimed Saffron “orchestrated” the fire and was “assisted by corrupt police and political figures” to win the tender to operate Luna Park via a front company.

An ABC spokeperson said the broadcaster “fully supports the forensic public interest journalism of ‘Exposed’ and strongly rejects the assertion that Mr Andersons’ views were misrepresented. The ABC reproduced what Mr Andersons said for himself on camera.”