Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire shows Caro Meldrum-Hanna is a storyteller not afraid of the dark
Our fascination with true crime, those tales of investigation in the form of serialised, highly cinematic stories that began with shows like The Jinx and Making a Murderer, exhibits no sign of abating. And particularly those narratives that are more participatory and that deal with a system that all too often fails people, even as on their behalf we crave righteousness.
- Abe Saffron, 'Mr Sin', was responsible for the Luna Park Ghost Train fire, cops say
- Saffron was involved with illegal gambling, prostitution, liquor and property
- Senior cops close to the 1979 fire investigation say he was in cahoots with police
- Detective Inspector Knight said the blaze that killed seven was an electrical fault
- Sources say the King Cross kingpin ordered the fire and cops and politicians like Wran and judges like Murphy helped cover it up
- Saffron wanted the coveted Luna Park land, which was bought after the inferno
In 1987, an inquiry by the state government's Corporate Affairs Commission found no evidence of links between the company owning the land and Saffron, who died in 2006.
In 1989, a decade after the fire, the National Crime Authority found the original NSW police inquiry "grossly inadequate".
Several former police have told EXPOSED the head detective on the initial police inquiry, Inspector Knight, was a corrupt "fixer" known for manipulating and deleting evidence and intimidating witnesses.
Jim Black, another officer who oversaw the inquiry, was reputedly corrupt. The notoriously corrupt Bill Allen, then a chief superintendent with oversight of the arson squad, was also at Luna Park the day after the fire.
Two years after the fire, all three officers were accused of receiving bribes from Saffron friend and business associate Jack Rooklyn. All three officers have since died.
Alec Smart: 1979 Luna Park fire: NSW Police resist fresh inquiry despite new evidence
The extraordinary thing about Saffron is that although he was engaged fairly publicly in a range of criminal activities for over 40 years, he was almost never troubled by the police until 1987, when (as was to happen to Lennie McPherson later) he was charged by the federal National Crime Authority. (Compared to the state police, the feds were relatively honest.) He was convicted of tax evasion, and went to gaol for 17 months.
Saffron had immunity from prosecution for so long because he was bribing politicians and police, with money, entertainment, and sexual favours. Only John Hatton and his researcher Arthur King dared to raise questions in NSW Parliament.
Abe Saffron, the king of Sydney’s vice rackets, had a long friendship with Dudley Doherty, a top spy with the Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).
The ABC also interviewed a key police officer who, for the first time, publicly confirmed details of an explosive allegation: that Saffron conspired with High Court judge Lionel Murphy and NSW premier Neville Wran to win the Luna Park lease after the fire.
Before the Court are several appeals by taxpayers, 
Abraham Gilbert 
Saffron, and Apsley Investments Pty. Limited, a company associated with Mr Saffron. The appeals are brought against default assessments of income tax made pursuant to s.167 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936. The assessments were made, in some cases, in 1984 and, in others, in 1987. Although the appeals were instituted in 1987, their hearing was not commenced until certain criminal charges against Mr Saffron were dealt with (see Saffron v The Queen (1989) 17 NSWLR 395). In the case of Mr Saffron, the assessments issued in 1984 were made, inter alia, in respect of additional income, in substantial amounts, "based on an examination of information held in this office". The 1987 assessments were made in respect of substantial additional income as follows:
"Based on further information received in this office the
following amounts of money have been determined to have been
received by you from the cash takings of:-
- Venus Room
- Gilligans
- Carousel"
2. Apsley's 1984 assessments were made in respect of "additional income derived by Carousel Cabaret arrived at by deducting gross takings returned from gross takings shown in second set of books."
MULTI AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST CARO MELDRUM-HANNA RETURNS FOR HER MOST GROUND-BREAKING INVESTIGATION YET, EXPOSING THE TRUTHS BEHIND A 42-YEAR-OLD MYSTERY. (Abe Saffron ...)
Across three feature-length episodes, this stunning investigation reveals the untold story of the 1979 Ghost Train Fire at Sydney’s iconic Luna Park.
On a winter’s night screams of delight turned into screams of terror as the Ghost Train ride erupted in flames, quickly becoming an inferno. Six boys and one man died.
The fire was written off by authorities as a terrible accident but was it something more sinister?
Lead investigator on the Ghost Train fire investigation, Detective Inspector Doug Knight, on site the day after the fire.(Sydney Morning Herald)
Despite multiple inquiries, rumours and innuendo, no one has ever been held accountable for the blaze.
Leaving no stone unturned, Caro and the team re-investigate the tragic event which claimed the lives of seven people: John Godson (29) and his two sons, Damien (6) and Craig (4). And four schoolboy best mates: Jonathan Billings (13), Richard Carroll (13), Michael Johnson (13) and Seamus Rahilly (13).
With unprecedented access to the key people involved, The Ghost Train Fire features an astonishing cast of eyewitnesses, police, investigators, and government insiders who have never spoken before.
