ABC to review Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire

ABC has initiated a review into Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire, which it maintains is part of its ongoing editorial practice.

The Australian reports it will be undertaken by investigative journalist Chris Masters and Sydney University professor Rodney Tiffen.

The review follows the NSW Police offering a $1 million reward for new information regarding the fire, but also some criticism by former ABC chairman and managing director David Hill, former NSW premiers Bob Carr and Barrie Unsworth and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull.

ABC’s audience and consumer affairs division also dismissed a formal complaint by Milton Cockburn, a former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, and an adviser to Wran, in June.

An ABC spokesperson said, “The ABC regularly carries out internal and external content reviews and doesn’t comment on these while they’re underway and / or if they’re intended for internal use only. More information on the editorial review process and on Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire is below.”

This year the ABC’s Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire investigated the fatal fire at Luna Park in 1979, in which six children and a man tragically lost their lives, and the police investigation that followed. It raised serious questions about the cause of the fire and about the original police investigation of the tragedy. It also conveyed calls from families of the victims, as well as witnesses, magistrates, former investigators and judicial figures, for a fresh inquiry to be announced.

Following an application received after Exposed aired, the NSW Coroner directed NSW Police to review the evidence concerning the cause and origin of the fire and the circumstances surrounding the deaths as a result of the fire. In June a majority of the Upper House of the NSW Parliament voted in support of an independent special commission of inquiry to investigate the Luna Park fire and the subsequent police investigation. NSW Police has offered a $1 million reward for new information regarding the fire.

The ABC stands by the journalism of Exposed and is assisting NSW Police in the inquiry.

A statement on external content reviews indicates they are not “pass/fail” tests for content or binding verdicts but  are for educative purposes.

Published ABC reviews can be found here.

The last published review, on Violence, Tragedy and Trauma, was posted in June.