NSW Police Commissioner demands ABC hand over Luna Park files

Mick Fuller has insisted the ABC hand over all information regarding their contentious investigation into the Luna Park ghost train fire.

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller. Picture: Gaye Gerard

NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller has insisted the ABC surrender all material it collected for its documentary on Luna Park’s fatal ghost train fire so it can be reviewed by detectives ­re-examining the case.

State Coroner Teresa O’Sullivan and Premier Gladys Berejiklian have been putting pressure on police to indicate whether a fresh inquiry should be launched into the disaster, which claimed the lives of six children and one adult at the Sydney amusement park in 1979, after the three-part series claimed the blaze may have been deliberately lit as part of an arson plot.

However, Mr Fuller on Tuesday said homicide detectives had been unable to assess whether the allegations warranted further investigation as the ABC had failed to provide material to support its claims.

While Ms O’Sullivan directed the ABC to hand over all ­material pertinent to the case by last Friday, Mr Fuller said the only information received from the team behind the series was already publicly available.

The broadcaster on Tuesday received a one-month extension to comply with the directive.

Mr Fuller said he was giving the broadcaster “the benefit of the doubt” and that he expected all relevant material — including the unedited footage of the interviews filmed as part of the ­Exposed: The Ghost Train series — would be given to detectives.

“I’ve got the coroner asking me, ‘Does she need to hold a new inquest?’ I’ve got the Premier asking me, ‘Do we need a specially commissioned inquiry?” Mr Fuller said.

“I need all of the information the ABC has to make a proper ­assessment on that, and I expect that will all be provided ­unedited.”

Broadcast on the ABC over three nights in March, Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire posited that an arson attack had been ­orchestrated by Sydney underworld figure Abe Saffron in a bid to win an upcoming lease on the theme park.

It claimed the plan was carried out by a small group of bikies and later covered up by a chain of corrupt police and politicians, and that the conspiracy went “right to the top”.

NSW Police Minister David Elliott this week described the ABC’s response to Ms O’Sullivan’s directive as “blatantly ­obstructionist” and accused the broadcaster of being “morally bankrupt”.

The ABC said it was co-operating with NSW police and working with them to “collaboratively consider the terms of the order and determine how best to proceed with the production of remaining relevant material”.

“The ABC is concerned to ensure that confidential sources in the Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire investigation are protected,” the ABC said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Mr Fuller confirmed police were also investigating another prominent story that had found its way into the media after receiving a complaint that sexual assault allegations against NSW Liberal MP Gareth Ward had been leaked to the press.

“We have received a complaint about that and that matter has been forwarded to LECC (Law Enforcement Conduct Commission),” he said.

“At the end of the day, sometimes victims, sometimes people they tell, will bring (ongoing investigations) to light.”