Independent review finds fault with Exposed doco

A Review into ABC’s Exposed: Ghost Train Fire has commended journalists Caro Meldrum-Hanna and Patrick Begley in raising concerns around a police investigation in 1979 -but found fault with elements of some allegations.

The 3 part doco which screened in March have resulted in a NSW Police Unsolved Homicide Squad investigation and a $1 million dollar reward by NSW Govt.

But there has also been criticism by former ABC chairman and managing director David Hill, former NSW premiers Bob Carr and Barrie Unsworth and former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, notably around allegations NSW Premier Neville Wran was corrupt.

In their findings, journalists Rodney Tiffen & Chris Masters found:

The program is in most ways an outstanding achievement. It brings to life a major tragedy in Sydney’s history. It brings together more than five dozen on-camera interviews and scours through a huge amount of documentary research on official transcripts and reports. This is a depth and breadth of research that very few television series achieve, and the result is much fresh, revealing and important material.

The series has performed an important public service, drawing attention to the lack of authoritative resolution surrounding the tragedy. Since its broadcast, there have been responses by the coroner and by the police, who are now offering a reward for information about the fire, and widespread calls in parliament and elsewhere for a new inquiry.

The production values are very high. Cinematography by Andrew Taylor is world class. Use of archival footage is extensive and exemplary.

The thrust of the first program is to relive the tragedy of the fire – seven lives cut short, the lifelong grieving of their relatives, the trauma of the immediate survivors. It evokes the shock and impact of the dreadful and fatal fire breaking out at a fun park surrounded by people enjoying themselves.

The most important aspect of the second episode is exposing the farcical nature of the police investigation, and so also the unsatisfactory nature of the inquest, and the incomplete nature of some future inquiries.

The third episode widens the lens to focus on organised crime figure Abe Saffron’s interest in Luna Park, and the political environment around the fire and the future of Luna Park.

But they also cited a lack of evidence to back up allegations ‘Wran was involved bigtime’ or that he had ties to organised crime figure Abe Saffron.

“The program makers uncovered police intelligence reports supporting [Rosemary] Opitz’s accounts of VIP social gatherings. Their up-close evaluation based on multiple meetings and due diligence checks affirmed her credibility. However, no solid evidence was given to corroborate her most serious claims, and no contrary views were presented.,” they noted.

The report also found a storyboard graphic used to link key characters had ‘overreached.’

“This graphic is dramatic but in suggesting such a strong and direct link between Wran and Saffron it is misleading.

“The series offers a penetrating and precise account of police corruption, judicial shortcomings and probes behind the façade of commercial interests. In contrast, its references to political corruption remain vague, anonymous, and unhelpful. At various points of episode three, we are told corruption went all the way up the scale to politicians, that senior ministers were corrupt, that transcripts were destroyed because of corruption, and that corruption went all the way to the top. But we never penetrate any further.”

They concluded, “This series was notable for the depth and breadth of the reporting it used to investigate the very important events surrounding the tragedy of the Luna Park ghost train fire. That reporting achievement should be recognized and given due weight.

“The program makers uncovered much suspicious evidence around arson being the cause of the fire, exposed the incompetence of the police investigation, reported on the inadequacies of earlier investigations, revealed the way policy making by the NSW government benefited Saffron, and the corrupt circle of influence around Saffron. They mounted a compelling case for a new investigation.”

But ABC News Director Gaven Morris said while the review acknowledged Exposed uncovered new evidence of arson as the likely cause of the fire and incompetence around the police investigation, he also rejected the shortcomings outlined by Masters and Tiffen.

“ABC News doesn’t accept the reviewers’ opinion that the graphic was misleading. The series did not purport to have proven the allegation” [of links between Wran & Saffron].

“The review does not question the decision to include any of that material in the series but contends that viewers would have been left with the impression that the program was asserting Mr Wran’s guilt. That was not the program’s intention or assertion.”

ABC internal reviews are not “pass/fail” tests for content or binding verdicts but are supposed to be for educative purposes.

But if ABC News also isn’t willing to accept the findings …what’s the point?