ABC ‘obstructing’ Luna Park inquiry

The ABC has refused to hand over information it claims to have uncovered about Luna Park’s fatal ghost train fire.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott. Picture: Nikki Short

The ABC has been accused of impeding a police investigation after refusing to hand over critical information it claims to have uncovered about the cause of Luna Park’s fatal ghost train fire.

Police are so frustrated by the broadcaster’s failure to co-operate with detectives working the case that they have asked NSW state coroner Teresa O’Sullivan to intervene, while state Police Minister David Elliott labelled the ABC “morally bankrupt” and “blatantly obstructionist”.

Ms O’Sullivan last month said she would consider ordering a fresh inquiry into the fire, which claimed seven lives when it broke out at the Sydney amusement park in 1979, after the ABC aired a three-part documentary claiming it may have been deliberately lit as part of plot to win an upcoming tender for the right to operate the lucrative harbourside attraction.

Caro Meldrum-Hanna in a scene from Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire.

Fronted by award-winning reporter Caro Meldrum-Hanna, the series – Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire – speculated that the arson attack had been orchestrated by now dead underworld figure Abe Saffron, carried out by a bikie gang and covered up by a string of corrupt police and politicians stretching all the way to then NSW premier Neville Wran.

Ms O’Sullivan directed the ABC to provide detectives with all relevant material it had collected as part of the series by last Friday for review, but police sources said the public broadcaster was still to furnish anything meaningful.

They now want the coroner to compel the team behind the ABC’s in-house documentary to hand over their entire cache of evidence, including footage of all their raw, unedited interviews.

Mr Elliott said it was “wildly unethical” of the ABC to push for detectives to reinvestigate the tragedy off the back of their series and then refuse to provide investigators with any evidence to back up the claims broadcast within it.

“This proves the ABC are morally bankrupt,” he said.

“They have been blatantly obstructionist despite creating so much anxiety among the families of victims with their report and casting a shadow over a number of organisations and individuals.

“Their actions show they have no interest in the welfare of these families and reeks of hypocrisy.”

NSW Police confirmed homicide detectives re-examining the circumstance surrounding the fire had asked Ms O’Sullivan to direct the ABC to provide them with further material.

“As part of the review, investigators have requested the materials presented in the recent ABC series,” a spokeswoman said.

“ While some materials have been provided, police are continuing to seek further materials and are awaiting advice from the state coroner.”

The ABC said it had already provided detectives with “thousands of pages of material” and it “will continue to produce relevant material”. “The ABC is engaging and co-operating with the NSW Coroner and NSW Police to support this investigation by the production of relevant material,” it said in a statement.